A Midsummer Night's Mischief
by The Rational Dove
Summary: Japan and Greece decide to elope when Japan's boss almost forces Japan to marry China. Korea wants China, much to China's horror. And as if things couldn't get worse, Sealand makes a fatal mistake... Based on A Midsummer Night's Dream by Shakespeare.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: I wanted to write a story that included all of my favorite pairings while still being original (and having a plot). I thought that a WWIII story would be too cliché and drabbles would be hard…. Then, I suddenly remembered the Shakespeare play I read last year, A Midsummer Night's Dream. That's when it hit me. After giving my fav Hetalia characters each a role I thought suit them best (and correlated with the pairings), I immediately knew that this story had to be written!**

**Extended Summary: Japan's boss wants Japan to marry China for political reason, but Japan wants to be with Greece. Meanwhile, China-obsessed Korea wants the older nation to be his, despite the fact China is too preoccupied with the hope that his younger brother may be living in the same roof again….But when Sealand attempt to help out with the couple's struggles, something goes wrong….Based on Shakespeare's play ****A Midsummer Night's Dream. ****There isn't any old English in here, and everything is in present day.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own either Axis Powers Hetalia or ****A Midsummer Night's Dream****.**

**Warning: There are a couple crack pairings in this story due to the plot, but they aren't too painful :3. **

**Pairings: (in order of appearance) GerIta, Giripan, ChiKor, FrUk, Matfred (CanadaxAmerica) and some implicated PrusHun **

**~AnimeOtakuFreak1029**

* * *

"NIHON!" Italy cried joyously as soon as the door to the older country's house opened. Before Japan could protect himself, Italy locked him in a suffocating embrace, leaving Japan startled. Regaining his senses, he roughly shoved the Italian man away and gave him a stern look.

"Italy-san….What did I say about hugging me?" Japan chastised, his gaze clearly showing disappointment.

Italy bowed his head in shame. "Never do it." He mumbled, disheartened, but his sadness didn't last. "C'mon, Doitsu! Let's sit down!" he called to the nation behind him. Germany followed Italy to Japan's living room where they made themselves comfortable on the floor. Japan disappeared into the kitchen and returned with three bowl of white rice, each with chop sticks sticking out of the bowl. "If you need a fork instead, I have some for you."

Japan cocked his head curiously as Germany and Italy thanked their friend for the food. Something seemed…different about the two of them. Germany was contently holding hands with Italy (something the two were rarely ever caught doing, even if the only witness was Japan) and the former wore the happiest grin-one that lit up the German's face as if the sun's rays were reflecting upon his skin right now. Japan pondered these new elements, trying to come to a conclusion as to the source. Had Italy and Germany escalated their relationship to a higher level? Japan turned the hypothesis over in his head, feeling that he somehow failed to notice an essential piece of the puzzle.

"Guess what happened, Nihon?" Italy exclaimed, fidgeting in his seat with pent-up energy.

That's when it hit Japan. He recalled the moment a few days before when Germany had displayed his little gift to Italy, wrapped in a bow that held a resemblance to pasta…

"_Relationships may not be his forte_," Japan thought, "_but Germany-san does have an eye for detail…_" Remembering Italy's unanswered question, he replied. "What?" while trying to feign surprise.

Italy couldn't hold his secret in any longer. "Germany proposed to me!" he exclaimed. He popped out of his seat, almost flipping the kotatsu over. Thankfully, Germany caught the furniture before it spilt its contents onto Japan.

Japan felt a smile curve his lips. "How wonderful!" He exclaimed. "Congra-"

"He gave me a ring!" Italy interrupted. "See?" He wagged his ring finger in front of Japan's face with such speed that the latter had to catch Italy's wrist and hold it still for a proper examination. The band was a standard gold, the surface shimmering in the slanted sunlight. A tomato sat atop the band in place of the customary diamond.

"He went to Jared!" Italy beamed with pride at the ring. Japan gazed past Italy to Germany with a questioning gaze.

Germany's cheeks flushed with color. "Well, America suggested the store and they DID have a good selection…."

"I see…" Japan chuckled softly, "The ring seems to suit Italy-san's taste to a T."

He began to say his thanks when Italy spoke again. "We're getting married in four days!"

Japan furrowed his eyebrows. "Four days? Isn't that a little….soon?" he inquired, figuring the average time span between proposal and marriage was around 3 months or so.

"It is…" Italy agreed. "But Germany keeps talking about how he wants to get to the wedding night, which to me seems strange. I mean what's so special about the NIGHT of the wedding? Are-"

Italy stopped speaking as Germany muffled the former's speech with his hand. "Feliciano," He spoke, using his fiancé's human name, "you don't have to tell Japan EVERYTHING."

Italy tried to pull the hand away from his mouth as a sign he had to say something. Obeying, Germany removed his hand from Italy's face, keeping it close in case Italy continued with the humiliating topic.

The auburn-haired country seemed to remain unflustered. "Anyway, Ludwig and I were wondering if you would like to join the wedding!"

Japan did not answer right away. He ran his schedule quickly through his head. "I think I can come. But I'll have to check with my superior if the date is available." He commented after a moment of thought.

"Well, you are welcome to come, Japan." Germany replied. "We won't be bothered if you decide to join us at the last minute."

Japan thanked the two friends for their kindness and began to consume his portion of rice. Germany and Italy, feeling to need to be respectful, dug into their own bowls.

"So, Japan…" Italy began, struggling to get a proper grip on his chop sticks. "…what's with you and Greece?"

Japan almost choked on his rice the moment Italy completed his question. Giving his chest a few firm taps with a sideways fist, he responded. "Well…we-um-haven't visited each other in a while…" He eyes grew wistful, but he shook himself.

"So you two love each other?" Italy continued, now stirring his rice absently.

Japan's face reddened and he shrunk to half his size (although he was quite short already). "I….I guess you could say that…" he whispered, embarrassed.

"Italy!" Germany's stern voice covered Japan's meek one in a flash. "You shouldn't be asking Japan about personal subjects. It's rude!"

Italy frowned, turning to his fiancé. "Ve~, I was just curious, Ludwig."

"Yes." The Japanese man piped up, sitting up straight as if the conversation had never occurred. "There is no need to worry, Germany-san. I'm okay with discussing my relationship with Greece-san." Japan wasn't too sure he truly would divulge information to the eager Italian, but he saw no sense in keeping the whole thing a secret. (Many nations already knew the little Greece-Japan dating rumor to be true or had at least heard of the rumors.)

Germany furrowed his eyebrows in concern as he shoveled rice into his mouth. "Are you sure you're okay with it?" the blonde inquired after swallowing his food.

Japan merely nodded. _"I might as well get used to the fact that my love life will be prodded. Being more open about the topic amongst friends may help in the event someone I'm not on good terms with asks me questions."_ He thought.

"Well, I'm glad you have a love interest, Nihon. It's wonderful, isn't it?" He leaned his head onto Germany's chest.

Japan had to agree with Italy. Being with Greece had made him…different. Japan felt he had opened up emotionally because of Greece, becoming more comfortable with hugs and kisses…although he still detested hugs from anyone else aside from Greece.

"Speaking of, is Greece here?"

In that same instant, an obnoxious snore erupted from somewhere beneath the cover of the kotatsu. Italy jumped a foot in the air with surprise. "DOITSU! What was that? It sounded REALLY creepy. I'm SCARED!" The Italian began to sob hysterically, clinging onto Germany for dear life, while the blonde placed a hand on his forehead in shame.

Seizing the opportunity, Japan casted a glace under the folds of cloth to discover Greece, curled up on the floor. Japan hated to disturb his sleeping lover, but Italy and Germany might get curious… He lightly nudged the Greek, trying to keep the movements as subtle as possible in the event the two guests glanced at him. Soon, Greece opened his groggy jade-green eyes in confusion. He opened his mouth to say something, but Japan placed a finger over his lips in a sign to remain quiet.

"Nihon?" Italy's voice brought Japan's head out from under the tablecloth. The small nation let the cloth drop from his fingers and flutter into their natural position.

"What made that noise?" Germany asked, as soon as Japan's attention had returned to the couple.

Immediately, Japan frantically tried to come up with some explanation for the snore. "It was only my dog." Japan admitted finally, feeling terrible about lying to his best friend.

"A dog?" Italy's face lit up with excitement. "Let me see it!" He began to stick his head underneath the kotatsu.

"NO!" Japan yelled, panic searing across his countenance. Italy froze, amazed at Japan's sudden outburst.

"I mean…my dog doesn't like to be disturbed from his nap. I learned that the hard way." He stuttered briskly, hoping the explanation would be convincing.

"Oh…" Italy backed away from the edge of the table, as if afraid of arousing the "dog" lying beneath the wood.

The three talked for an hour more about other topics until Germany checked his watch and tapped its face. "We have to go back west." He announced. "Italy and I need to prepare for the wedding and there are only four days until the date."

Italy didn't want to leave his comfortable position on the seat cushion, but his soon-to-be husband wasn't the person to argue with. "Ve~, I want to make sure we have enough food for the after party, Doitsu." He replied, placing the chop sticks back into his rice bowl.

"Well, thanks for visiting, you two, "Japan replied, opening the front door for the couple, "and congratulations!"

As soon as Japan closed the door behind Germany and Italy, the house phone rang from its location on the kotatsu. Japan rushed over and clicked the green button. "Japan speaking. " He spoke curtly into the receiver, eyeing the kotatsu for any sign of movement from Greece.

"Konichiwa, Japan." Japan's superior's voice returned the nation response. "I have some important news to share with you. Are you alone?"

Japan's gaze immediately returned to the kotatsu. Was he going to have to lie to his superior now? Feeling extremely uncomfortable, he took in a breath and replied. "Yes. I am."

"Good. Please retrieve your laptop. I would like to converse with you over video chat."

Japan, understanding, momentarily placed the phone down, retreated into his bedroom, and swept his silver PC off of his bed. He started to walk back into the living room, but froze. If Greece decided to leave his position, his boss would surely see. Instead, he shut the door, being sure to bolt it tight.

Japan welcomed himself onto the foot of his mattress and placed his laptop atop his lap. He pushed the start button and petted one of Greece's many cats as he waited for the computer to warm up.

A few clicks later, Japan pulled up the video chat screen that displayed a live feed of his boss in front of his own webcam. "Now that we are ready, I will begin." The boss cleared his throat. "I am sure you are aware of the trip I made to China, yes?"

Japan nodded in acknowledgement of the fact. "Of course. I can see you are still in China's house."

His lips curved into a satisfied smile. "Why, yes! I quite like it here, actually." He commented. "I find the atmosphere rather placid."

Japan's face dulled at his boss's strange praise of his older brother's living quarters. Something about his boss's expression told the nation that he was purposefully looking comfortable, as if to convince Japan the place held the greatest atmosphere in the entire world.

"Anyway, I have been pondering about our position in the world in terms of impact. We have a booming economy and posses an incredible military force, if I do say so myself, but could we possibly become even stronger?"

Japan leaned closer to the screen, his eyes narrowing slightly. The thought of power is a tempting one for a nation and very few can refuse its promises-even someone as self-controlled as Japan. He knew power had blinded nations to the point it left them barley surviving. For power is like flames. They are a nation's source of survival, but abuse the flame and it devourers everything it touches until the flames end up feasting on the person who used the fire for his own purposes. Japan silently waited for his boss to continue, wondering what type of strength his superior held in mind.

"China has a favorable position. The economy is going well. Their military is strong. He has the makings of a superpower." Japan's boss continued. "With all these positive elements, I have decided a move that could aid us in the long run." He paused, as if to let Japan state anything before the unveiling of the idea. Japan, however, remained silent, his face impossible to read.

"I want you to marry China."

Japan's mouth hung open in utter disbelief. His brain screeched to a stop and his whole body seemed to lose its memory on how to perform simple bodily functions. His muscles froze, lost without a central command system, his lungs couldn't seem to inhale or exhale. Even his heart had lost its rhythm, banging on the inside of his ribs as if to plead Japan's brain to work again.

To Japan's surprise, the brain obeyed his hearts wishes and invigorated, returning function back to Japan. Before he could vocalize his thoughts, though, Japan's boss said, "I didn't think you'd be too enthusiastic, but look at the benefits. China is immortal. If you tied the knot, you'd be immortal, too."

"Do you mind if I ask you a question?" Japan interrupted, his face still impassive. "How did China's boss react to the idea?"

"Oh, he loved it! He believes that it will be the best for us all. Even China himself is elated to be married to you."

Once again, Japan's brain froze with astonishment. China himself had agreed full heartedly with this ridiculous plan? Why? Pushing his question aside, Japan furrowed his eyebrows, trying to formulate a sentence that would give his boss his rejection without being too subtle or too harsh about it. (Japan, as you know, believed that words had to be arranged in the right patterns lest you send the wrong massage.)

With words finally prepared, he verbalized his thoughts. "As much as the rest of the people in question want this marriage to follow through, I must say I do not approve. The people of my country will not be enthusiastic about rejoining with China and our governments are too diverse to be mixed with each other. I apologize for the inconvenience." Japan began to move his cursor to the "x" button in the top right corner of the video chat window.

"It's because of Greece, isn't it?"

Japan's hand came to a stop. Still gripping the mouse, he returned his gaze to his boss. "Pardon?" he asked, wanting to make sure he hadn't misheard.

"That cat lover Greece is clouding your thoughts. You spend so much time with him that your judgment is thrown off. What do you SEE in him anyway? He only sleeps and gets angry at Turkey for no apparent reason. (Turkey isn't all that bad of a person.)"

Japan felt his knuckles turning white from squeezing his fingers together into a fist. Japan knew anger as well as any other person does; he rarely ever let it show on his countenance. Even for someone like Greece, who knew him better than many other countries, held difficulty deciphering the nation's emotions. Now…Japan felt so furious, tendrils of his feelings leaked into the clenched fists. His own boss…blaming the Nation's decision on another country. It was despicable. "Even if Greece was out of the equation, I would decline the offer." Japan spoke calmly, trying his best to keep his breathing even. "I do not want to marry China."

"Listen, Kiku." Japan's eyes brown eyes widened. His boss had never called him by his human name before now... His boss continued as if he had said nothing out of the ordinary. "I will give you two opinions to this proposition. Either you will marry China as planned or you will take an oath that you will never form a relationship with another Nation outside of political alliances. You are to give me an answer in four days time. Is this understood?"

Japan looked at his boss in disbelief. "Yes." He rasped, suddenly feeling aged.

The box which once housed his boss's face now stood blackened. Japan's fingers shut down the computer, but Japan himself swirled in the new information. Could he really choose between marrying China and being forbidden to be in another relationship? Was his boss truly serious about this? Japan unlocked his bedroom door and walked into the living room. He paused to clear his head of as many thoughts as possible before he slipped his head under the kotatsu. "You can come out now." Japan said to the Greek, noticing that he had failed to return to his nap.

"Well, that's a relief." Greece slipped out from under the furniture and stood to full height. Japan followed suit, looking up at the other. "I was wondering when I would be allowed to move." Greece continued, stretching his long-rested limbs.

Japan chuckled, a smile on his face. "I'm sorry, but I felt my company would ask too many questions about our relationship."

Greece waved a hand in dismissal of Japan's actions. "No worries. I'm not bothered at all." He paused, eyes scanning Japan, before he spoke abruptly. "You know, for that whole entire time you were talking with Germany and Italy, I could see up your-"

Japan, ninja reflexes kicking in, gave Greece's chest a strong shove, sending the taller man to the floor. Embarrassed, the raven-haired man worked on flattening his yukata (although there was no real need to) and leaving a mental note to fold his legs the next time he sat at the kotatsu.

As a result, he failed to see Greece return to his feet and come closer to him. "Did I embarrass you?" Greece asked him softly, wrapping his arms around Japan's waist and resting his chin on Japan's shoulders.

A flush of deeper red darkened Japan's blush from light pink to a redder tint. Lost for words, he simply nodded. He was about to face the Greek, but his thoughts flashed back to the recent discussion between his boss and him. He sighed softly, suddenly feeling more weight on his shoulders than ever before.

Greece lifted his head from his lover's shoulder. "Is there something wrong, Kiku?" he asked, worried. "You seem…preoccupied."

Japan removed Greece's arms from his waist and plopped himself on the floor, back propped against the wall. "I have a lot on my mind."

Greece sat beside him, shifting Japan until he rested comfortably on Greece's lap. "Tell me what's on your mind." He said softly, his nose nuzzling the other lovingly.

Japan then proceeded to relay the situation to Greece, who listened to everything, not commenting until the end. All the while, he gave the small Nation a soothing massage. "You have to marry China?" Greece asked with disbelief.

Japan took in a shaky breath. "It's either that or no relationships at all."

Greece sunk into silence, pausing his massage to think. He suddenly became excessively nervous, butterflies appearing in the pit of his stomach. Clearing his throat nonchalantly, he spoke. "You know, my boss likes you."

Japan looked up at Greece curiously. "Is that so? We haven't met properly…"

"That may be true," Greece murmured, gently kissing the top of Japan head, "but he's heard enough from me to know how great you are."

Japan felt more blush creep across his face at these words. Greece noticed and lifted Japan's chin until he could see the other's face completely. "God, I love it when you blush. You look like such a neko." He breathed, placing a tender hand on the side of Japan's face.

Japan became interested in the condition of his nails. "Why did you tell me about your boss?" he asked in an effort to change the subject.

Greece remembered their original discussion. "Oh, well. I have an idea that will help the situation." He took Japan's hands in his. "Come with me tomorrow to my house. I don't know when your boss is returning, but if he is coming today, we should leave now."

"He isn't returning until tomorrow afternoon."

Greece's lips stretched into a grin. "We would long gone by then." As he spoke, he drew circles in the palms of Japan's hands with his thumb. He held the back of each hand with the rest of his fingers curled lightly around the silky skin. "When we get to my house, my boss can join us together….in marriage."

Japan slipped his hands from Greece's grasp. He fell off Greece's lap and looked at the other man with disbelief. "You…" he began hoarsely. "…want to marry me?"

"Well, actually, it would be eloping..." Greece corrected him flatly, but then a light pink blush found its way onto Greece's countenance. "…but yes, I want you to marry me…." Since his legs were no longer serving as a seat for Japan, he drew them to his chest. "I had been thinking about asking you a long time ago..." he continued, swirling an index finger lazily on the floor. "…but I never got the nerve to…I even had a ring picked out…"

Japan nestled himself next to Greece, shoulder against his. "Is that so?....Well….This does seem like a good plan. My boss would never know about it and I trust your superior wouldn't let the secret go out, yes?"

Greece nodded, finger still making circles on the floor. "He wouldn't tell a soul…" He straightened his legs out again, first the left leg, then the right.

Japan faced Greece, turning his whole body in his direction. "I guess I should give you my answer…" he stated, his voice light and feathery.

Jade green met chocolate brown. "Please do."

Japan's eyes fluttered closed, running through his decision in his head once more before parting his lips. "Tomorrow… I will go with you to elope, Heracles-kun." His eyelids withdrew, his pupils focusing on his lover. "My answer is yes."

An ear-to ear grin erupted so quickly onto Greece's face, it almost arrived violently. Unable to resist, he coiled his arms around his beloved's waist and pressed his lips gently on Japan's

The elder nation's lips curled at their edges ever so slightly into a somewhat grin. His own happiness urged his arms to drape themselves on Greece's shoulders and lace his fingers together behind's Greece's neck, his eyes closing. Japan's love ballooned in his chest as he shared the kiss with Greece, until he felt Greece's lips moving slightly and the beginnings of his tongue slipping itself into Japan's mouth.

Taken over with panic, Japan, for the second time that day, delivered a painless, yet forceful blow to the others chest, separating them. 'W-what were you doing, G-Greece-san?" he panted, his body shuddering as his nerves steadily obtained composure.

Greece, back lying against the floor, pulled himself to an upright position. "I…" Another wave rosy pink invaded the Greek's cheeks. "…I'm sorry, Kiku…." His voice faded in volume the more he spoke. "I just…couldn't help myself....."

Japan did not make an immediate reaction yet. He merely waited for his heartbeat to regain its normal speed before he closed the gap between him and Greece. "It's alright, Heracles-kun. It's me, really…being horrible with relationships." Japan rested his head on Greece's shoulder, twining his fingers in Greece's.

Greece relished the way his human name rolled off Japan's tongue-so elegant and cat-like. "Don't worry about it." Greece whispered his cheek against Japan's raven-tinted hair. "Everything will be better tomorrow."

Korea couldn't move, even if he wanted to from his spot in the bushes flanking Japan's humble home. A pen hovered forgotten above a pad of paper, even though his hand still clutched the utensil. His browned eyes had augmented to the side of tea saucers in surprise, anguish, utter awe at the scene before him…..Labeling one dominant emotion would be virtually impossible. "_This_…" he though, his internal voice quivering, _"…this is definitely NOT what I expected to find_."

* * *

**Thanks to MeowChan16 for helping me out with this fanfic and making sure it nothing was "sweeter than Panda Puffs" :D**


	2. Chapter 2

Korea, to be honest, never truly recalled why he had decided to make a drama film. It was as if he had just risen that morning and proclaimed to himself, "Let's make a drama movie today."

Korea's biggest guess as to why his subconscious self wanted to even make a movie in the first place was the fact of his incredible boredom. Sure, it's pleasant not having to worry about pressing political issues for once, but the Korean needed something to occupy his time. He asked himself more questions, trying to figure out his motives, but he eventually abandoned his search.

In the dawn of the project, Korea had assumed taking a stroll around his own homeland would be of enough inspiration for the film. (After all, romance did originate in him.) Much to his disappointment, none of the romance he observed was inspiring. A mere collection of hugs and kisses wouldn't satisfy viewers. The film needed a plot- a captivating story that would leave everyone stunned with deep emotions.

Frustrated at this point, Korea decided he needed to travel far from his house in order to receive the right inspiration. Thus, Korea let his feet carry him someplace, while his eyes searched for an idea-something useful…

When his brain returned its focus to his location, he was surprised to find himself standing in Japan's back yard, tendrils of steam rising from the hot spring's surface. Korea felt his heart submerge itself further into disappointment. How would stoic, barely-experienced-in-romance Japan help with his movie?

"_Stupid feet!"_ he silently scolded, scuffing his heels against the ground. _"Couldn't you have brought me somewhere useful? Like France?" _

Korea drew in a deep breath. He might as well try to obtain as much inspiration as he could from Japan. After all, the pesky little rumor that Cat-lover Greece and him had escalated their relationship far beyond a simple political agreement buzzed amongst the nations. Some had even gone far enough to say the two had already lost their virginity to each other, but Korea merely laughed at the thought. Knowing Japan, he doubted the nation would have followed through with something as large as physical intimacy.

While Korea strolled leisurely toward the front door, he formulated an explanation for why he had made an unexpected visit:

"_I need some inspiration for my drama film."_ Could be taken the wrong way.

"_Hey, Japan! Could you tell me some traditional Japanese love stories?"_ That sounded alright.

"_Can I look at some shojo manga?"_ Might get a questioning look, but at least it was a start….

Korea's eyes, for a moment, drifted to a window which looked into the living room. Japan's head was under his kotatsu in the middle of the living quarters. Korea though nothing of the action at first glance, but he backtracked when he could've sworn to have seen another head emerged from underneath the furniture.

The curly hair and deep green eyes identified the other person as Greece. Korea gaped at the sight. "_So the rumors were all true?_" he thought, aghast. His surprised mouth morphed into his famous Korea-smile. "This could be…..useful," he mumbled to himself, eyeing the window slyly.

Korea, wasting no further time, slipped into the fronds of a low-growing bush planted below the window and removed a pen and pad of paper. Frantically, he searched for a blank page while he tried to pay attention to the events behind the glass. Korea didn't want to miss anything.

By the time Korea got himself together, Greece had been shoved for some unexplainable reason onto the floor. Japan had his back turned to the former nation, his concentration solely focused on his yukata. Korea, having somehow missing the cause of this, felt it safe to assume that Greece had sneaked a peek up north.

Rapidly, he scribbled a few notes:

_Seme looks up Uke's skirt and Uke gets angry. Pushes Seme to ground._

Korea returned his eyes to the scene the moment he finished. Greece had now gotten to his feet and treaded placidly to Japan. From behind, Greece took Japan's waist in his arms and lightly nestled his chin onto the latter's shoulder.

_Seme walks to Uke and performs the smexy back- waist-hold-plus-chin-rest with Uke_

Here a sloppy diagram involving stick figures was drawn, complete with arrows labeling the seme and uke.

Japan currently leaned against the wall furthest from Korea and said "I have a lot on my mind."

_Real drama begins here!!!! C:_

The younger nation watch intently at how Greece positioned Japan onto his lap and tried his absolute best not to squeal when Greece rubbed his nose against Japan's in a loving nuzzle.

_Sits Uke on lap and brushes nose against Uke's nose. _

Korea's hand toiled tirelessly, jotting line after line of notes. _"Thank you, feet,"_ He praised the pair he had recently chastised for their supposed lack of direction.

_Seme rubs Uke's shoulders as Uke explains problem._

_Situation Details:_

_-Boss talked to Uke over video chat_

_-Promises more power_

_-Tells Seme he has to marry Aniki or else he can't be in…_

The blue ballpoint pen froze, tip stationary on the paper. Horrified, Korea's eyes reread the last words he had just written, his pupils passing over it again and again, making positive his eyes saw the correct words.

"Japan has to m-marry…ANIKI?!" he whispered hoarsely, his hands shaking in disbelief. _"It couldn't be…."_ His brown gaze returned briefly to the window, the couple within it not as magnificent as before, pleading for it not to be true-that his ears misinterpreted what Japan had explained.

"You have to marry China?" Greece's question seemed to be only spoken to terrify the Korean even more.

"NOOOOOOO!" A quiet squeak escaped Korea's lips. "Why Aniki? Of all people…ANIKI!!!"

Korea continued his observation, but no longer took careful notes. He heard every word, but the conversation whizzed in one ear and out the other, too muddled and fuzzy for his brain to comprehend. His subconscious self remained the only part of Korea to display interest to his original goal, stowing away some romantic poses for later use and the surprising news that the couple had planned to elope in a few days' time.

All the while, the majority of Korea's thinking energy was expelled grieving at the news of the arranged marriage. _"How could China even want to be with Japan? What was so special about him?"_ Korea glared at his older brother with distaste for a microsecond. His thoughts then converted from questions to fierce complaints. "_This isn't __**fair**__! Aniki is __**mine**__! He was always mine, and he __**will**__ be mine! Japan's boss will __**not**__ take him from me!"_ His teeth gritted in fury as the rest of his conscious self revisited his study; he blinked several times at the sight of Japan and Greece sharing a chaste kiss.

Not once had Korea envisioned his brother in the arms of another country, with his lips against another pair of lips and hands holding each other close. Japan was just too…_dense. _His jumpy deposition in respect to intimate relationship could only be tolerated by someone as lethargic as Greece. (Although, the Greek did seem unlike his tired self when it came to romance.) The two of them, thus, fit each other without any major conflicts. "_This is why China can't be with Japan!!!!! They just don't…..click."_

Korea's hand still clutched the pen, the pad of paper still with pure white, but the two items were deemed useless amongst Korea's inner angst. _"This…"_ he concluded, _"this isn't what I expected at all…."_ as Japan and Greece leaned close to each other, heads retiring to shoulders.

Now, Korea hadn't the faintest idea what do to. He considered still knocking on Japan's door and asking him for assistance, but Korea had long ago forsaken his search for inspiration. At this point, the envy, fury and sorrow had been swirling together into a massive figurative bomb, ready to explode. _"I hate Japan's boss so MUCH!"_ he screeched, bringing his foot down onto the soft earth with all the strength his could muster.

Unfortunately, Korea's white ballet flat landed squarely on a stick, cleanly breaking the wood in half. The sickening snap that followed made even the Korean cringe in surprise. "Crap." He cussed out loud, accompanied by a line of more colorful Korean swears. Praying the inhabitants of the house had somehow failed to register the noise, he began to creep out of the fronds of the bush.

"SNAP!"

Japan's half-lidded eyes fluttered to full view, startled by the abnormally loud crunch of wood. He continued to listen, wondering what had caused the noise. Before he dismissed it as naturally induced, a sudden string of curse words drifted from outside. Recognizing the Korean dialect, Japan slipped his head out from under Greece's cheek.

Greece (who had been comfortably dozing in this position) jolted awake, when his temporarily pillow became absent. He noticed Japan's alert posture and rubbed his fiancé's (Oh how lovely it felt to call Japan his fiancé!) upper left arm in a soothing motion. "What did you hear, Kiku?" he asked groggily.

"Someone's outside the house," Japan's voice was brisk and held a twinge of urgency.

Greece's jade green eyes brightened in alarm. "Do you think the person eavesdropped?"

Japan didn't respond; he hopped onto his feet and strode to his room, returning with a purple katana hilt slung over his shoulder. "I'm going to see who this person is. I already have a good idea who we are dealing with, though."

Greece joined Japan, his heart beating in a frantic worry. _"Please, don't let it be Turkey…."_ the Greek pleaded silently, as Japan opened the front door and crept outdoors.

Korea let a slight sigh of relief depart his lips. With his feet finally free from the branches of the bush, he could make a swift retreat to his homeland and then work out his new difficulties there.

He never got the opportunity to slip away unnoticed. After a dizzy frenzy of motion, Korea found himself pinned against the house, the point of a katana blade aimed a mere few centimeters from his pale skin. The owner of the weapon, none other than Japan himself, locked a smolder of brown on Korea. "What are you doing here on Japanese territory?" The smaller nation attempted to keep his voice level, but somehow spots of pure anger wormed its way in between his words.

Although Japan was a head shorter than Korea and the latter had to look down at his attacker, he was no less intimidated. Korea's mind reeled through a series of reasons and excuses to explain his presence in Japan. For lack of anything better, Korea randomly shouted joyously, "Japan! I haven't seen you in forever! How have you been?" Out of strict impulse, Korea maneuvered himself behind Japan and squeezed the area where Japan's breast would've been located if he were a female.

Japan yelled in protest, scampering to remove Korea's groping hands from the area. Finally, the former nation broke free, his breath coming in pants.

"For goodness sake, Korea! I'm a **man**!!!"

Greece raised an eyebrow at this statement. He didn't think Japan needed to confirm his gender nor did the Greek believe Japan's sex was under question in the first place. In any event, he joined Japan's side, his gaze trying to understand what had ensued Japan's fierce exclamation.

"I know that, Japan." Korea rolled his eyes. "What do you think I am, stupid?"

Japan eyed his brother with slight distaste. "I didn't say anything of the sort." He replied calmly. In Greece's opinion, his lover's patience with Korea was wearing thin, despite the fact the two hadn't been talking with each other for very long.

"Why are you here, Korea?" Greece tried to get an answer out of the Korea this time.

"That's a very good question!" Korea commented, aiming to buy himself more time to formulate his answer. "I have an answer for it, too!!!!"

"And what would that be?"

"I needed some inspiration for this drama film I wanted to make, but there wasn't anything in my own country, so I came here." Korea had no idea why he was directly telling the two what brought him on the foreign grounds, but the truth wasn't that ghastly, was it?

Japan's face remained expressionless, so Korea couldn't possibly tell how the Asian nation took the information. "I went to go to the front door, but I saw you two in the window and…well…" Korea cut his story short after seeing Japan's face immediately turn shocked.

"H-how much did you hear?" Japan questioned warily, fearful of the response.

"Oh, I only heard everything from when Greece was shoved to the ground the first time." Korea replied lightly, as if the information was noting to be concerned about.

Both Greece and Japan wore the same appalled look on their visages. Korea frowned slightly, not knowing what else to say. "Urm….Congrats on the whole eloping thingie, by the way. I hope it all works out," he remarked awkwardly.

The two lovers exchanged a glance, unsure of how to handle the situation. They obviously couldn't force Korea to forget what he just witnessed, but they had to be absolutely certain the country wouldn't say a word about their plans to anyone else.

Greece drew in a deep breath, taking the liberty of telling Korea their conditions. "Okay. Since you kinda heard everything we had discussed, we have to make you swear that you won't tell anyone else anything that you heard."

Korea had expected this from the couple. I mean, if they were eloping, the natural conclusion was that others were not supposed to know. Even so, Korea was apprehensive about swearing to lock the secret up tight. What if he was in a life-threatening situation and he would only survive if he told of Greece and Japan's elopement? What if the secret could be somehow used to all of their advantage in some way? What if the secret happened to be an answer on a game show? What if…?

There were too many scenarios to name in which his knowledge could be useful, but he would be restrained by a stinky promise if such an event were to occur. "Why should I keep it a promise?" Korea inquired cautiously.

Japan applied more pressure to his jaw in frustration. If Korea refused to keep his mouth closed, he and Greece would have quite a problem. Japan searched for a reasonable explanation for Korea to make the promise. "Well, if we get married, you will have China all to yourself," he suggested openly.

Korea's face brightened at the thought of China alone with no competition for his attention. What Japan spoke was the truth. With Japan eliminated, Korea would have more of a chance escalating his relationship with his older brother beyond siblinghood.

"That is a very good reason…" Korea though, deciding not to give his word right off the bat. He screwed up his face, pretending to be deep in thought before he gave his answer. "Okay! I promise not to tell anyone, then."

Greece sighed lightly in relief, but Japan wasn't ready to let the younger nation off the hook just yet. "Just to make sure, you must pinky swear on it." As a sign of his seriousness, Japan extended his pinky.

Korea, suddenly, doubted his want to be completely tied to this swear. If, on the slim chance, he had to spill the beans, he would hate to crush this big of a swear, especially a pinky swear. Thus, while his own pinky wrapped around Japan's, he crossed the index and middle finger of his other hand, being sure the hand was masked by his enormous sleeves.

"Alright then," Japan remarked as he released Korea's pinky. "I guess we are on good terms."

Korea mutely nodded. "I'm upset that China would want to marry you, Japan. Is there any special reason?"

Japan shifted his shoulders in a sign of a lack of knowledge. "I only know that my boss wants it to happen due to political gain. As for why China is going along with it is something I do not know."

The Korean stretched his limbs, suddenly feeling depleted of energy. "Well, I should probably head back to Korea. I'll see you two soon, when you're a married couple." With that, Korea turned on his heels and sprinted away towards the west.

* * *

**This chapter was annoying and kept me busy for the longest time. It was actually supposed to be longer, but seeing that it was a whooping 7 pages long on Word, I decided to cut it short and continue in the next chapter. Thanks for reading and I hope you will continue to read as I write!**

**Also: Since I'm sure many of you want to know how this story fits in with **_**A Midsummer Night's Dream**_**, I will be telling you what parts the Hetalia characters play and a few differences from the original story and this one.**

FOOTNOTES:

Germany and Italy- Thesius and Hippolyta: I think Italy and Germany as the cute little couple that is mentioned throughout the story fits nicely, yes? Originally, Prussia and Hungary had this part, but after some switching around, I found these two to work out better. The couple here is less important than in the play, but that's because here they aren't leaders of Athens, Greece.

Japan and Greece- Hermia and Lysander: One of the main couples in the entire story. There was no question about who would fit into this slot. Japan and Greece's position in the play were one of the few that weren't moved around. After I started writing, I found out that Hermia is supposed to be short. Funny how little details can work out where you least expected.

China and Korea- Demetrius and Helena: I knew that ChiKor would serve as this couple, but I didn't really know which would be Demetrius and who would be Helena. Korea ended up being Helena (even though I think Korea is more of a seme than China is) because I couldn't picture China stalking anyone.

Japan's boss-Egeus: He's the stand-in for Hermia's father. I could imagine Japan's superior wanting his country to marry China for political reasons.

The whole chapter (strangely enough) is actually dynamically different from the original plot. Hermia and Lysander willingly reveal their elopement to Helena, as opposed to her accidently discovering the plan. I felt that Greece and Japan wouldn't tell Korea on their own accord. Plus, this brings out more of Korea's personality.

**~AnimeOtakuFreak1029**


	3. Chapter 3

_Huff…Huff…._

Korea placed a hand on the side of his own dwelling to steady himself after traveling almost non-stop from Japan to Korea. There wasn't any need to rush, but Korea felt it necessary to return to his homeland so he could more comfortably ponder the situation. Numbed with a dearth of energy and the lingering shock of his obtained information, his hand swung the door open. His flats shuffled him to his bedroom and Korea lay down on the fluffy mattress, eyes glaring at the ceiling.

"_What should I do now?"_ the question stung bitterly in his mind. There were so many options buzzing in his thought process, yet none of them seemed appealing. _Stay here and wait for Greece and Japan to elope. Spill their secret to every country in the world. Get Aniki to fall in love with you regardless of this. Punch a pillow because this is all so freaking overwhelming._

He gladly followed the last option's plan. When his fist uncurled, he nestled himself in the upholstery recently victim of his physical abuse. He exhaled, the breath quivering ever so slightly. "I don't want to just wait around… That's a no-brainer," he mumbled. "but there isn't much else I can do. Unless I can come up with some other way to get Aniki's attention away from Japan…" Korea shifted onto his side.

His eyebrows flicked upward as a sudden idea invigorated in his mind. "What if Aniki knew about Greece and Japan? He would be extremely depressed….." Korea's face lightened as the though blossomed in his head. "So depressed that….he would turn to anyone for comfort…turn to me for comfort."

He abruptly sat up, his eyes sparkling. "I would make him feel better though these hard times, and in time we would fall in love!!!!" Korea's imagination leaked into his ideas. "It's foolproof!" He leaped off his bed and posed triumphantly in the square middle of the floor. "I will tell China about the eloping and that will help him see the love he has for me!"

Within himself, at the edges of his sanity, a meek voice called out pleading to Korea-begging him to stop and rethink his brilliant plan, but that voice couldn't hinder the decision Korea had already made. It was completely helpless to watch the rest of him gather some supplies, compress them into a duffel bag and head out to China.

*~*~*

Red orbs flicked down to a wristwatch.

The second hand had long since passed the 3 mark and now inched its way to 4. By that time, the rest of the company he was expecting should have been crowding around him, discussing their big project, but _nooooo._ Something had to be higher on their priority lists.

"Prussia!"

The sound of his name brought his eyes up from the clock's face. Lithuania waved to him from the other side of the woodland clearing, his shoulder length dusky-brown hair lightly swaying in the summer breeze. He sprinted over to the albino, four other countries following suit. The aforementioned nation stopped in front of the Prussian, panting. "Sorry about our lateness, but Poland was taking a long time getting dressed," He shot an irritated glare at his blonde friend.

Poland made a slight frown. "Well, I, like, put a lot of thought into my apparel. I wouldn't want to be totally strange-looking."

Prussia folded his arms over his chest, snorting contemptuously. He didn't consider a pink shirt and long frilly skirt "normal", but for Poland, many odd styles could be easily considered average. "Anyway…" he glanced at Lithuania, "we might as well get started on the play."

Lithuania nodded and pulled a blue backpack from off his shoulders and held the sack in front of him. He unzipped it, shuffled through its contents and pulled out five scripts, each with lines highlighted in a rainbow of colors. "Okay. I'll call each of you by name and then tell you your part." Lithuania explained the procedure with an uncanny sense of authority many didn't think Lithuania possessed.

"Hey! Aren't you going to tell us the name of the performance first?"

A light flush of embarrassment coated the timid nation's cheeks. "That would be a good thing to do," he glanced at the title written on the cover page of one of the scripts. "It's called _A Very Tragic Comedy About the Horrible Deaths of Pyramus and Thisbe."_

"That's a long name," Latvia's sheepish voice floated like a ghost amongst the rest of the party.

"Long and lame," Prussia added scornfully. "Someone as awesome as me shouldn't be performing something so stupid."

"But you're one of the main characters."

Prussia snatched a script from Lithuania, remarkably recovering his interest in the project. His eyes scrutinized the paper until he determined his position. "I'm Pyramus?"

Lithuania could only nod in verification.

Prussia's eyes gazed over the packet of lines, a satisfied glint to the red irises. "I guess the awesomest part would have to be played by the awesomest person, am I not right?"

The rest of the theater assembly would have loved to disagree, but none challenged the Prussian.

"Carrying on….Poland?"

The nation's eyes met Lithuania's "Yeah?"

"You will have the part of Thisbe," Lithuania handed a packet to Poland.

"Thisbe…..Isn't she, like, Pyramus's lover?" Poland questioned, paging through the script

"Yeah. Prussia's going to kill himself over you."

Poland's emerald eyes passed over Prussia. "That will be totally interesting," he commented cheerfully.

"Estonia?"

"Here," Estonia adjusted his spectacles as his named was called.

"You are to be Thisbe's mother."

Estonia made no comment; he only moved to take the packet from Lithuania's outstretched hand.

"Latvia, you're being Pyramus's father," A packet was in Latvia's possession, "and I'll be Thisbe's father.

"What about me? I have a part, da?" Russia's question had Latvia trembling violently, a definite indication of his trepidation. All this time, the Russian had been tacitly observing the conversation so his abrupt question (though not at all loud) was enough to startle the others, reminding them of his presence.

Lithuania mirrored Latvia's fearful appearance. "W-well….You are playing the lion, but you don't have to worry about lines or anything…You just need to roar."

Russia smiled innocently. "Okay! I don't mind."

Prussia furrowed his eyebrows. "Wouldn't I make a better lion than Russia?" he inquired openly.

"What do you mean?" Estonia asked, eyes curious as to why Prussia had brought this up.

"Well, first off, Russia's way too, erm,-" Prussia screwed up his face, as if trying to find the appropriate phrasing. "-bulky to fit into a costume and secondly, he would scare everyone to pieces as a lion!"

"But Russia wouldn't be a very good Pyramus, " Latvia pointed out.

"I could play both parts."

The rest of the gathered Nations gazed with disapproval at the Prussian, but the albino seemed to be oblivious to their reactions. "The lion and Pyramus aren't on stage at the same time, right? So there aren't any conflictions."

"How would you, like, change costumes? I mean there's, like, no time between the lion's exit and Pyramus's entrance to, like, get dressed."

"Maybe not for you, Mr. I-Need-One-Hour-To-Put-On-Clothes!" Prussia growled, lips curled into a frown.

Lithuania's face was the color of a ripe tomato by the time Prussia had said this. The sheepish brunette looked as if prepared to burst in rage, but he only stuttered: "It's approaching 4:05. That's the time we agreed to end by, right?"

Prussia glanced at his watch, verifying Lithuania's claim. "I guess it is. Well, we have to end today, but we should meet tomorrow."

Lithuania nodded, seeming to be relieved. "Same time, same place?"

The group gave their silent consent and dispersed.

*~*~*

"Well, aru?"

The Japanese man heaved a sigh, avoiding China's gaze. "He will be thinking about it," he replied quickly, as if avoiding the real outcome of the proposition.

China raised an eyebrow in suspicion. "So…he didn't like the plan, did he, aru?" the Nation ventured a guess, which happened to be right on the nail.

Japan's boss shook his head solemnly. "I tried to convince him, but Japan refused."

China immediately looked crestfallen at the news. China had held strong doubts that the island nation would bear even a remote consent to the idea that overpowered any hope for success, but he couldn't help but wonder if Japan had miraculously acquiesced. "He's hard to persuade, aru…" he commented lightly; if anybody knew how set in stone Japan could become, China was the expert.

Japan's superior's lips formed into strange smile. "I wouldn't be so hopeless, China. I have ways to coerce."

Alarm rippled through China's expression. "I don't want him to be forced, aru," he cried. Having Japan unwillingly marry him would be the worst alternative, especially with Japan's independent mindset.

"Oh, he's not being forced at all." The middle-aged man gave the nation a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "Don't worry about it."

China nodded, but he felt the boss's words were shallow and wispy, only said to blind the truth. He exhaled deeply when Japan's boss departed the room, allowing him to drift into his own thoughts.

"_What exactly is Japan's superior planning, aru?" _China puffed out his cheeks in mild frustration "_I wish I knew, aru…..That way I could calcu-"_

The buzz of the doorbell knocked China into reality. His thin eyebrows furrowed in perplexity. He hadn't been expecting any other company today. Could another nation require something of him at short notice? He groaned lightly, not willing to shovel another morsel of problems on his already cluttered plate. He stood up and shuffled to the door, peering through the peep hole at his unheralded visitor.

Two deep brown eyes stared at the wood door, arms, buried somewhere in voluminous sleeves, folded impatiently over a purple jekgori.

China had half a mind to ignore the Korean on his doorstep, but the manners that had been welded into his brain over the eons nagged at him to be courteous.

China opened the door, silently gazing up and down his younger brother, before asking: "Can I help you, aru?"

Korea nodded, a smile bringing enthusiasm to his facial features. "Well, actually, it's what I can help you with."

China tilted his head to the side, confusion dominating his expression. He slid out of the doorway allowing Korea in while he aimed to guess what exactly the taller man could possibly have to offer him.

China gestured to a wooden backed chair for Korea to sit in, but his visitor declined the seat, seeming to be content to stand and pace in the living room.

"So, what do you want to tell me, aru?" China inquired, holding the desire to cut to the chase.

Hope fluttered in his chest. He had successfully gotten China's undivided attention. "_Now to play around!" _he thought, internally beaming at his plan. "You know the Greece and Japan rumors? That they're together and stuff?" he threw out the pair casually, as if merely aiming to strike up a decent conversation.

The slight interest in China's eyes was swatted away the instant Greece and Japan were mentioned. "Why are you bringing those two up, aru?" he asked stingily. "I don't know anything more than rumors, aru."

For the briefest of moments, Korea's confidence submerged, but he regained it swiftly, reminding himself that China wouldn't be all that happy at the mention of the pair. He strolled slowly over to China, shortening the floor area between them in gradual amounts. "I happened to stumble upon the two of them together, to be honest. Thus the rumors are true," The last statement was, of course, an obvious conclusion, but Korea needed China to feel as depressed as possible. Otherwise, the probability of love blossoming between them from both sides would be as slim as Italy defeating England and France combined without any outside assistance.

A pang of loss rang in China's heart. If Korea spoke the truth, the chances of Japan accepting whatever terms his boss had laid out had decreased drastically. China, who had been stationary for the last few minutes, settled into the chair he had offered to Korea, the wind blown out of him. His face became pallid with a sense of failure. "T-they are, aru?" his voice barely sounded like it belonged to him.

Korea nodded solemnly. "I wouldn't lie to you, aniki," Here, he supported his weight on his claves in front of China, tilting his body toward the elder Nation. "Not even to save my life," Korea's face filled China's sight and he found himself smashing his back into the seat, trying to get as much distance between them as physically possible.

China squeezed his feet onto the seat. "W-Why-"

"There is more," Korea's voice overruled China's. "I also have learned one thing about them that I was really the only reason I came."

China blinked, apprehensive of the coming piece of knowledge. His arms squeezed his thighs closer to his chest. "What, aru?" the whisper, hoarse with fear.

"They decided to elope." Korea gave the sentence out straight, in a matter-of-fact tone, as if he held no concept at how detrimental the side-effects would be for China.

China gaped at the statement that just departed Korea's mouth. "You didn't really say that, aru. It's all just a misunderstanding, aru," he replied, voice beseeching for a different truth.

But Korea's face was as serious as if cut from stone. He seemed too impassive to be joking, eyes too worn to be jesting. China created more of a fetal position in the chair, rocking slightly, searching around him for solace. Everything he had planned…gone.

Korea placed a gentle hand on China's shoulder, the other resting on a knee. "I know this is hard, China, but…they're really happy together. Personally, I don't understand why this is all so...devastating to you." Korea scanned China's drained face, looking for some sort of indication he had at least placated the elder Nation a microscopic amount.

Color slowly resurfaced in China's cheek, but not out of comfort. "You don't know how much I've wanted to have a brother with me, aru! My family doesn't give me any respect, and I wish that you all would stop pretending I wasn't part of your life for at least a little bit of it, aru!" His eyes smoldered with years of accumulated rage.

Korea stated to panic. China should be crying into his shoulder right now, and he should be rubbing the former's back. A brief surge of imagination produced a scene of him offering China a way he could make him forget his problem and China lustfully agreeing, but Korea returned to reality swiftly. He leaned forward even more, until the fabric of his clothes brushed against China's knees. "I give you respect, aniki. I don't think that you aren't important, either. The-" Korea had no idea why, but his throat had dried itself in a matter of milliseconds. "-the truth is," Here, Korea collected China's ponytail and weaved the brown hair in between his fingers. "I want to be that brother living in your house," Their countenances were centimeters apart, close enough for Korea to quickly peck at China's fresh lips before he protested…

Two hands gripped Korea's wrist in theirs and threw them away like two pieces of garbage. "What the heck are you DOING, aru?" China leapt to his feet, expression in utter surprise. "Don't touch me like that, aru,"

Korea scrambled to his own feet, slightly dazed. China's reaction had not been anticipated and therefore, no backup had been preparing in the event the plan failed (which it had in Korea's eyes.) "I'm sorry, but I wanted to comfort you," he apologized.

China shouldered past his visitor, turning to face a carpeted staircase. "Pulling on my hair is not how I'm calmed down, aru," he whispered, his voice beyond irritation. He ascended the stairs, and Korea was left to listen to footstep pad on creaking floorboards and a wooden door close with a low _thunk._

Korea collapsed to the floor as soon as China had moved upstairs. Normally, he wouldn't have hesitated to pursue his crush into his sleeping quarters, but Korea's spoiled confidence impeded further action. He had no idea what thoughts China was entertaining or how to turn the situation to his advantage. In shorter terms, he was in a pickle with no way out.

He kept to himself for around fifteen minutes, until China's presence was heralded by a slight squeak of wood in the direction of the staircase. Korea looked up, perplexed at the backpack now slung from China's shoulders, a panda gnawing peaceful on one of the bamboo shoots protruding from one of the mesh side pockets. "You look like you're going on a long journey," Korea remarked for a lack of better conversation.

"That's because I am, aru," China's face grew stiff with a fierce determination. "I need to find Greece and Japan and stop them…Too much is on the line for this to happen, aru!"

Korea heart leaped in horror. He didn't plan for Greece and Japan to be restrained by any means. The surge of panic was briefly toned down once Korea reminded himself that China had no idea where the couple's destination was or if they were even traveling. Even so, he still needed to at least attempt to make China change his mind about the ordeal. "Are you sure that's the right thing to do, aniki? I mean…They really want to be married to each other…" he tugged on China's sleeve, as if the motion would draw him away from the prospect of ruining Japan and Greece's lives.

"Yeah, but politics don't. I don't," Korea opened his mouth, but China didn't give him an opportunity to interject. "They can't possibly be married in any case, aru. They are in different continents and to commute that far just to say hi, aru?" China shook his head, an air of sadness in the gesture. "It's too much for any nation to handle, aru. If Japan could somehow move, closer to Greece, then fine, aru. But he can't move his island any more than England can, aru,"

With that, China whisked the front door open and exited the house, making sure Korea was no longer inside before shutting it. Korea felt tears pool in his eyes, threatening to rain down his cheeks. He had made everything worse, not only for him, but for the couple who had placed their trust in him to not even whisper about their plans. So much for having China fall for him!

In his self-pity, Korea failed to notice China already speeding away toward the west until the aforementioned country was a good meter from Korea's location.

Korea's heart thumped nervously. China couldn't do this and Korea still had a slim chance to at least spend time with him, even if he was not welcome to accompany China on his quest. With no time to allow himself to argue about it, Korea broke into a sprint, calling China's name as he tried to catch up.

* * *

**Before we cut to footnotes, I would just like to let everyone know that on my profile, I have a news section about this fanfiction and my others as well. If you would like to be updated on this fic's progress, please check it out!**

_Footnotes:_

_Section 1: See Section 3 for explanation in reference to __A Midsummer Night's Dream__._

_Section 2: Here is where we see some new characters! In the book, there were three setting going on at the same time. The first two chapters is the first setting. The group of nations in the second section is the second setting. Basically, this is where most of the comedy occurs._

_Section 3: This part, along with Section 1, was not in the original plot. It was implied that Helena (Korea) told Demetrius (China) about Hermia (Japan) and Lysander's (Greece) eloping, but I felt the need to put in just how it happened in my eyes._

_Characters:_

_Prussia-Nick Bottom: This character works perfectly for Prussia, because Bottom thinks he can do everything and that he should be in charge. In __A Midsummer Night's Dream__, Bottom messes up words and confuses meaning to make them funny. I don't think that will appear much here due to Prussia's personality, but I might sneak a few word mess-ups in latter chapters. _

_Poland- Francis Flute: Poland was chosen for this part because he's the only Hetalia character I know that wouldn't give a hard time about playing a girl in a play. Flute actually didn't want to be Thisbe because he was trying to grow a beard, but Quince (Lithuania) assured him he'd be wearing a mask. (Hmmm….Francis Flute has a beard….similar to a certain Frenchman we all know and love that just happens to share the character's name.)_

_Lithuania- Peter Quince: I find it odd that I put Lithuania as the leader of the trope when his personality conflicts with that, but hey- Liet needs his time to shine, yes?_

_Latvia-Tom Snout: Latvia's here because of the part his character performs in the play (which changes during the course of the story). _

_Estonia-Robin Starveling: I really don't have that much of a reason why Estonia has this part. I needed someone to fill the gap and he worked._

_Russia-Snug: I placed our beloved Russia here because he gets to be a lion later on. I find that a perfect fitting, don't you?_

**And that's all, folks! Please review and thanks for reading!!!!**

**~AnimeOtakuFreak1029**


	4. Chapter 4

"_Come in."_

_Greece entered Japan's bedroom, a place he seldom had set foot in due to his partner's privacy. For a moment, Greece pondered the reason why Japan would, out of the blue, allow Greece in when he had so carefully made sure no one broke its borders, but Greece soon grew bored of reasoning and focused his attention on the only other occupant of the living quarters._

_Japan, to Greece's complete bewilderment, was dressed in his 1940's Japanese uniform, an outfit that had not covered a body since World War II concluded. Even after all those centuries of collecting dust, the clothes appeared fresh, as if the white apparel had only come out of the wash yesterday. Greece didn't mind the unusual attire. In fact, he believed the white cloth brought out his deep brown eyes and raven hair more than the standard deep blue yukata Greece was accustomed to._

_Greece's hands were on Japan's thin waist when he spoke. "It's been ages since I've seen this on you. The last time being in battle." Out of comedy, he withdrew his arms and cowered away from the shorter person. "You aren't going to attack me, are you?"_

_Japan laughed at Greece's humor, pulling the latter back to him. "No, I just felt like putting on something…different than a yukata."_

_Greece smiled and engulfed Japan into an embrace, as if he hadn't laid his eyes on Japan in a century. He buried his nostrils into the fronds of his hair, taking in Japan's cherry blossom scent. He sighed into the black mass, his exhaled breath lightly stirring a few strands of hair. Japan raised his head until the peak of his nose touched Greece's. The latter kissed the other full on the mouth, tongue worming its way past lips. A heavy sigh escaped Greece's lungs as his tongue was permitted entrance in Japan's interior. He extended the tissue and brushed Japan's tongue with his own, silently urging for a response. Japan, conceding to Greece's wishes, moved his tongue fluidly with Greece, snatching a moan from the Oriental man. Greece only receded from Japan when his respiratory system screamed for oxygen. A tendril of saliva hung lazily from a corner of the Greek's mouth. Embarrassed, he was quick to wipe away the secretion with the back of a hand._

_Japan's eyes glowed in the ivory light of the gibbous moon slanting through the windows. The pink flush of his cheek could be barely distinguished in the reduced lighting, but Greece could tell Japan was heavily blushing. He tugged on Greece's arm, guiding him to the middle of the room where a soft mattress rested alone, floral-patterned sheets draped over its rectangular frame._

_Japan lifted the blanket and slid onto the bed, patting the area beside him, indicating that Greece should occupy it. Greece didn't need a second invitation._

_He snuggled next to the smaller man, enveloping his lover's shoulders in his arm, pecking at his lips repetitively, so much that Japan had to push Greece away from him so he could inhale unsullied air._

_Greece cupped Japan's cheeks in his palms, rubbing his thumb on the delicate flesh. His skin almost looked like porcelain, so creamy in the milky light. His lips ventured off the beaten path and nibbled on Japan's earlobe. _"_S' agap__ó__" he breathed, tangling his fingertips in the feathery hair._

"_Xér__o__. Aisthánomai ton ídio trópo." __Greece was taken aback to hear Greek dialect emit from Japan's mouth. Butterflies, aroused from their quiescent state, flitted in his abdomen as he felt lips trail down his neck._

_Greece felt his breathing quicken, his heart pound, his aspiration flaring…aspiration for something…erotic. (Yes. He thought about explicit content in association to Japan.) But he doubted Japan would ever be that passionate about anyone._

_But the way those eyes scanned his body, the way he wriggled in his position…Japan seemed invigorated with a new sense of lust. Greece found himself panting at the mere thought of doing _that _with him._

_Japan inched closer to Greece, his chest making contact with the other's. Out of sheer compulsion, Greece's fingers were picking at the circular, clothed buttons on Japan's jacket. He immersed his gaze in Japan's. "Can I…?" his sentence ended prematurely, Greece being too flustered to complete it._

"_Yes," the trembling respons, took Greece off-guard. He lay there, gaping at Japan before he quickly recovered his senses and allowed his fingers to unbutton the jacket._

_His digits moved restlessly, the attire already halfway open in a mere three seconds. Japan's pink-colored face burned with a natural embarrassment, but Greece continued to toil until the white article of clothing was chucked away._

_Greece's breath came out softly as those fingers traced Japan's arm and grazed the slope of the joint where shoulder met arm. Greece carried slight deprecation that Japan donned a tank top under the jacket, but Greece wasn't complaining in the least bit._

_Greece's tongue licked at the flesh behind Japan's ear, already dampened with sweat, pulling a hushed moan from the latter. The Mediterranean country burrowed his hands under the muted gray tank, thumb crawling up the spine._

_He could almost physically feel the vibration of a shiver travel the bone. Greece perpetuated the climb, one hand feeling the vertebrae, the other exploring his chest. Eventually, the tank top became bunched up beneath Japan's armpits. Greece paused to give feather-light kisses along Japan's spine before whisking the cloth over his head and off his body._

_Japan respiration became ragged as Greece sucked on his neck, nipped at his lips, tongue snaking along his abdomen and ribcage. The excitement paused only for the brief moment when Greece ripped his own pajama shirt from his body. Drawing in swift gulps of air, the taller nation kissed Japan's nose as his hands traveled to his-_

"Meow!!!"

Greece's eyebrow twitched feebly, his arm limply groping for the origin of the mewling. An unintentional yank of a tail and the feline yowled in anguish, scampering away in trepidation. Greece sat up, eyes fighting to remain open. From what he could comprehend, dawn had not arrived; little packets of pre-dawn light colored the sky from pitch-black to a navy blue at the fringes of the horizon. To Greece, no light meant he should still be asleep. Reclining onto his pillow, Greece turned to his side, gazing dreamily at his…empty space?

Greece frowned, puzzled at the lack of a certain nude Japanese man at his side. He smirked, convinced that Japan had merely snuck away from the premise in a futile endeavor to extirpate his presence there- that is until Greece became knowledgeable of the pajamas that still veiled his body.

Japan wouldn't have taken the time to dress him, would he? Greece certainly would've woken up. Then again, Japan's surreptitious maneuvering wouldn't be excluded from the equation….And, come to think of it, wasn't he supposed to be in Japan's room?

The ridiculous prospect that Japan had gone far enough to drag him from one room to the next, return his clothes to their original places on his body and arrange the living quarters so as to brainwash the Greek into believing he had assumed this predicament the entire night was out of the question. It seemed too complex for an individual to perform with ease in the minute time allotted. Plus, the additional lassitude accumulated from the day lessened the feasibility of such a scenario.

Despondent, Greece buried his face in his pillow. Why did that have to be a stupid dream? It wasn't the first of its kind-not by a long shot, but the fantasies seem to only amplify his blossoming want to make love to his precious fiancé. Of course, being Greece, the lethargy of his nature caught up with him and submerged him in another bout of sleep.

Japan pushed the door to Greece's room open casually, peering into the poorly lit area. The human-shaped lump gave to intimation that the Greek still had not opened his eyes to the primordial visible rays of sunlight leaking in the room. Japan had expected this and had gone out of his way to prepare supplies for their trip to Greece. Japan had kept the loads as weightless as possible, figuring they would complete their sojourn quicker with minimal luggage.

"Greece-san?" he called to the snoozing body, but no movement indicated signs of arousal. Heaving a sigh, Japan strode to the foot of the bed and crawled onto the mattress, shimmying toward his lover. Japan then proceeded to jab an index finger sharply into Greece's shoulder blade. "Hera-kun…Wake up!" he cried to him desperately.

"Nnnnnn…." the drowsy groan gave way to fluttering eyelids, unveiling tired, jade-green eyes. As soon as the image of Japan kneeling beside him in bed came into focus, he jerked up into a sitting position. "K-kiku?!?! Wha-?" he sentence was shortened as he slid unintentionally off the rim of the mattress, the sheets swept along with him.

Japan glanced down at his lover, now engulfed in a voluminous pile of cloth, mirth in his brown gaze. "…My butt…" Greece complained, squirming in his constraint as he pulled the covers away from his body. He then rubbed his hand tenderly on his bottom in a soothing manner. Rising to his feet, Greece sandwiched Japan's face between his palms and stole a swift kiss as an affectionate greeting. "O haya-yō," Greece greeted casually, showcasing his developing skill in Japanese. "What's the rush?"

"I hope you haven't forgotten about our plans to elope," Japan responded, an amused grin on his face.

Greece appeared to be almost offended at the suggestion. "I wouldn't ever forget. I just didn't think we'd be leaving this early…"

"My boss could be leaving China at any moment. He planned to be back later today, but there is a possibility he changed his mind."

Greece swiftly nodded in understanding. "I guess I'll get dressed then…" his voice was slurred to the smallest extent, hinting at his lingering somnolence. Within that one phrase, he seemed to implicate the possibility of Japan remaining in that room with him.

Japan rose from the mattress, proceeding to exit the room. "I'll be waiting outside. I have everything packed, so no need for you to worry about luggage."

Tanned shoulders drooped in a mild depression once the door had closed. Why was it increasingly difficult to get Japan in bed with him? He had tried it before, no doubt about it, but no matter how many references he made to the topic or even if he bluntly asked his fiancé about sex, Japan turned him away or directed the conversation to something else. It was downright frustrating, to Greece, but he had long accepted the base fact that patience was a must to practice in this situation.

As Greece drew his legs out from his pajama pants, he vaguely wondered how lovely the sensation would feel if Japan were the hands yanking them off.

Ancient runes were such a _pain _to decipher.

Over his years of study, Sealand had formulated four major points as to why the tongue was a complexity to master: 1) the language was virtually extinct in the respect that it wasn't spoken conventionally 2)England was most likely the solitary person in the entirety of the living human race that spoke it, which was a downfall because 3)he wasn't home most of the time which lead to 4) Sealand having to spend an hour postulating the various definitions of one pesky symbol without any assistance because 5) there were so many meanings for one stupid pictogram, thus 6) it left Sealand irritated that he couldn't practice magic without running the risk of spontaneously combusting something (which occurred plenty of times.)

As of now, Sealand happened to be in said situation. He had open one of the many musty spell books England possessed and was currently translating the incantation printed upon the yellowed sheet of paper. A circle split into twelve sections inked on the surface seemed a simple enough symbol, but there were three main meanings behind the rune: sun, time, and orange (the fruit).

From the context clues, he deduced that the spell generated a certain type of people from a faraway land: sun people, time people, or orange people. Now, when it came to spells, logic and the most basic laws of nature had to be completely disregarded. In the oddity of things, every possible scenario could be feasible and, through the twisted induction of the supernatural world, made sense. With the process of elimination being his only remaining strategy, Sealand ran the three options in his head. Orange people were ostracized from possibility almost immediately, having been the least likely of the three to occur. Time people…..that seemed more fitting, but Sealand would've thought the prospect of time travel to have been mentioned, yet there were no years, or instructions about different eras in the paragraph. Therefore, sun people must be the missing piece of the puzzle.

Sealand felt a surge of pride rush in his veins. He had pretty much decoded the spell to English without fault. He smiled, scooping up the text and walking over the middle of the room. All he needed to do now was read the lines and check for verification of his success. After all, he was correct…..right?

Sealand took the next five minutes lisping the words. Countless errors had shown to the aspiring nation that even one mispronounced syllabication could be costly. Once he could repeat the written language exactly as printed, he cleared his throat and chanted in a monotonous voice:

"Htiw eht rewop fo eht Tneicna Cigam, eye llac nopu eth stnatibahni fo nus ot evael rieht sgnidnuorrus dna tisiv siht are. Yam eth Tneicna Cigam tnarg ym hsiw!"

Sealand thrust a palm forward, face grim with concentration. Turbulent winds stirred the debris in the room as a bright glow brightening the dank space. A brilliant flash of photons deluged the room in light, its mystical abilities upsetting forty percent of the standing objects in the immediate area (including poor Sealand) and scattered others around the premise.

The twelve-year-old sat up after being chucked violently to the ground, squinting through the wispy smoke that swirled in the atmosphere, a reminder of the recent magic used. Recollecting the spell book he scanned the piles of miscellaneous items, searching for live amongst the papers and flask and cloth and unidentifiable things in England's storeroom. Sealand scratched his hat-covered head. Had there been some error in his execution of the spell? What part had he screwed up?

A crunch of paper caught his attention. A moving lump of white seemed to be pulling itself out of the overwhelming mess, but was having difficulty doing so. Immediately, Sealand was near the humanoid creature, digging through layers of junk to free him.

Sealand practically fainted in horror when a befuddled bushy-eyebrowed English face stared back at his rescuer. "Well," he grunted, sitting up, seeming oblivious to Sealand's trembling stature, "you certainly aren't anyone I know, kid." England's white toga, sandaled feet and delicate feathery wings made his presence even more bizarre.

Sealand took several steps back, as if retreating from a poisonous snake. A sharp cry of pain caused him to jump in alarm. "My foot!" a timid child's voice whined. Sealand glanced at the newly discovered person, bewildered to see Canada sprawled on an assortment of clothes, but not just Canada. A preteen Canada about as old as him.

Sealand flipped through his spell book, officially terrified now. That spell had been either misconstrued or mispronounced and deciding which of the two had caused the issue would help with reversing the magic. As he scanned the page he had looked over too many times to count, the ambient sound slowly took the form of a conversation.

"Woah!....Where am I? I could've sworn I was going to the oak tree in the back a while ago.

"I don't know, but someone stepped on my foot!"

"Who's foot hurts?"

" I DIDN'T DO IT, DAD!"

"…Did I accuse you of anything, Alfred?"

"No, but I'm always to blame because I'm 'petulant and irresponsible'."

"That is true, but-"

"Aw, come on Mattie! Do you always have to but supporting Iggy?"

"I-well…I didn't…I mean-"

"Uhnnnn…..Arthur, when I said to wake me up at two, that doesn't mean blow up the bedroom and see if France can sleep through it at two."

"Honestly, Francis! Do you think I'd destroy the house just because I'd think it's funny?"

"Well, you are very unpredictable, _mon cher._"

"Shut it, wine bastard."

A distant lesson from his first days of learning magic came back to Sealand about that circular rune he had taken so long to translate.

"_Remember: the circle split into twelve sections is time, the sections representing the 12-hour day. You don't want to mix up a time travel spell with something else. You could find yourself in either another time or with people from some centuries ago."_

Oops.

FOOTNOTES:

_**Section 1: **__This is the product of intense Giripan fandom. I had to write smut, but I didn't know where in this story I could put it. This chapter seemed a perfect fit. You're very welcome, fellow fans ;)_

_**Section 2:**__ Continuation of Giripan smut, only in Japan's point of view_

_**Section 3: **__Here's a sort of teaser for the third part/setting/whatever you want to call it of the plot line, featuring new Hetalia characters as AMSND characters. This segment was supposed to go into the meat of the plot, but the Giripan bit pushed that to next chapter. For those of you who know the plot ahead of time, I have no doubt you can speculate who's who. For everyone else, you'll just have to wait and see._

_**S' agap**__**ó**__**: **__Greek for "I love you." In Greek letters: _Σ 'αγαπώ

_**Xér**__**o**__**. Aisthánomai ton ídio trópo.: **__Greek for "I know. I feel the same way." In Greek letters: _Το ξέρω. Αισθάνομαι τον ίδιο τρόπο

_**O haya-yō:**_ _Japanese for "Good morning" In Japanese kanji: _お早よう

_**The runes:**__ At first, I was going to use the Anglo-Saxon runes for the second section, but since the tongue is phonetic, I figured Sealand wouldn't be having a difficult time deciphering the language. That's when I used some knowledge I acquired a while ago about Mayan pictograms. In their language, one symbol could have several different meanings depending on the context. Thinking this complication would be a thorn in Sealand's side, I applied the concept to the runes. The symbol I used for time, thought, is completely made up._

_**Htiw eht rewop**__ …__**tnarg ym hsiw!:**__ The chant translates to this: "With the power of the Ancient Magic, I call upon the inhabitants of sun to leave their surroundings and visit this era. May the ancient magic grant my wish!" Hmmm... Looks really similar to the original, right? You probably have already figured it out, but I merely spelt each word backwards (except for "I" which I replaced with the spelling of its pronunciation). It's not that creative, but I didn't really want to spend much time creating a whole new language for this fanfiction._

_**Mon cher:**__ French for "my dear."_

**What d'ya know? The author's note is at the end this time! I think I may keep it this way because it looks better in my opinion. Anyway, this was a filler chapter (a chapter that does not progress the plot.) The plot will pick up next chapter with the set-up for the big thing that's gonna mess up the other character's day. As always, I appreciate the feedback and the numbers of views I get. Thanks so much for enjoying my writing!**

**~AnimeOtakuFreak1029 **


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Because Fanfiction doesn't like any of the ways I seperate sections, I'm just going to insert a number in between. I know it looks awkward, but I don't want there to be any confusion in terms of sections.**

1.

"So…" the toga-clad England twirled his star-tipped wand in his right hand as he lounged in his future self's rocking chair, "let me get this straight. You-" here, he pointed his wand to Sealand, "are my future son and you were practicing your magic with my spell book (which you should not have been doing in the first place) when you accidentally summoned us instead of extraterrestrials from the sun."

Sealand gave a curt nod. "That's basically it."

"Wait….aliens on the sun? That's so cool!" America exclaimed as he bounced in his seat on the couch, his bolo tie flapping in time to his jerky movement. Soon, his garrulous side took control of his mouth. "Iwonderifsunpeoplewouldbeallhotandsteamywouldn'ttheyburnyoudotheyhavesuperpowersheymattiewhydon'twegoandseethepeopleofthesunsomeday?" At the conclusion of this sentence, America was gazing intently at his brother, excitement twinkling in the sea of blue.

"Don't be silly, Alfred. There are no such things as aliens," England placated the young boy.

America frowned sourly. "How can you not believe in aliens when you have a bunch of fairies flying around you all the time?"

"Fairies and little green people are two different things," the Englishmen's stern countenance softened as he returned his attention to Sealand, "Now, could you show me the spell that you used to get us here? I might be able to tell you what the reversal would be."

The micro nation tenderly handed the worn volume to England, opening to the appropriate page, which he had bookmarked. After a silent moment of scanning the page, Sealand's father returned his attention to the assembly of Europeans opposite him. "It's quite a straightforward incantation. I don't see where you could've made an error."

"The rune_ emit_ threw me off. I thought it was the rune _nus_."

"_Nus_ is with six sections, not twelve."

Sealand's jaw tightened in a self-anger. "I know, I know! I forgot, okay?" he whined, fingers curled into fists. "It's not like you haven't ever made a mistake."

"Yes. I've made plenty of mistakes, but that doesn't mean you're stuck with us forever…." England paused, picking at the string hanging off of the bookmark. "Of course, that will all depend on whether I have the reversal spell or not…"

"Even if you don't, there's always the Internet. There's got to be a site for these types of spells out there somewhere."

"Internet? What's that? A funky magical device that's some sort of library?" France scoffed, idly scratching his wavy locks.

"…..You could put it that way…" Sealand responded, not having the desire to explain the intricacies of the Internet to people who still fervently believed that a sneeze might release your soul. "In any case, you all are going to have to stay in this house until I find a way to send you back home. I don't want anyone getting hurt or making fools of themselves."

"Awwwwww!" America whined. "I wanna see the future more! I wanna know what type of technology they have and if there's any good food and stuff."

Sealand felt a smirk flash across his features. The little colony had so many traits his older self still retained; it seemed as if he had only grown to better fit his enormous ego. Canada was similar in the sense that he remained quiet and submissive the entire time, overshadowed by his brother's more prominent persona, a complete facsimile of the perpetuating differences.

"Can we at least change into something more suitable for the time period?" France inquired the micro nation, "I want to see the fashion of tomorrow while I have the chance."

Sealand was pensive for a moment. France's suggestion was seemingly mild enough. Besides, it wasn't any invasion of privacy or stealing, since him and the future France were the same person. "I don't see why not," he replied, concurring to France's will, "Your room is upstairs, last door on your right."

France nodded rising to his feet and collecting England's hand in his. "I'm sure we can find something for you to wear, " He cooed, satisfied to see the slight pleasure on England's face (although it was masked by disgust.)

2.

France stood akimbo in the doorway to a walk-in closet, articles of clothing hanging on either side, shoes lined up orderly underneath the pants and shirts. Without wasting any further time, he began to browse the miscellaneous outfits. England followed suit on the opposite side. In less than two minutes, he had selected a simple button-down shirt, and light brown trousers to accompany it. "What odd clothing! I can't imagine myself wearing this sort of thing."

"Me neither." France's voice was muffled by the fabric surrounding him. "It's almost like I decided to be a _sans-culotte_ for the rest of my life." He swung his own outfit over one arm and strode into the main bedroom, laying his clothes on the sheets. He then proceeded to strip himself, despite the prominent facts that both the door was wide open and the shades were pulled up.

Once England emerged from the closet, he gaped as he saw France undressing shamelessly without a care that a poor passerby could possibly see. "Don't you have any decency, France?" he exclaimed, skin flushing red. "At least close the door! I really don't think any of the kids wish to see you getting dressed!"

France didn't respond, pulling his shirt over his head. He padded over to wear England stood, a marble statue, and pushed the Brit against his bare chest. "Perhaps the kids wouldn't like it," a playful glitter shone in his irises, "but I know of one male who internally desires to see me strip."

England freed himself from France's hold on him, folding his arms in defiance. "What would give you that idea?"

"Oh, come on, Arthur. It's not like you have never seen me _nu _before," he approached England and slowly traced his upper arm in an erotic motion. "Isn't that right?"

England gulped, his temerity steadily collapsing. Although he seemed too proper to be coerced into sex, it happened more often than one would believe at first. In truth, England actually found himself _craving _France in that state, but centuries of self-control had hardened England far past a doting princess, who would marry at first sight.

Lips sucked on England's neck, rubbing tender sides with slender fingers. "Let me help you with that toga." France mumbled into flesh. His hands slithered up England's inner thighs, liking how sleek the skin felt on his fingertips.

A groan vibrated in England's throat, for one second engrossed in the sensation, before he was reminded of the proper gentleman he was supposed to be. He suddenly took flight, escaping from France's exploring hands. He hovered in the air, hair lightly tickling the ceiling. "So…' he asked, glaring at his partner. "…what do you want?"

3.

Alfred crouched by the doorway, chancing a look into the master bedroom. It was a moronic thing to be spying on his parent when they were in the same room together. The stupidity of the act doubled since, this room was a bedroom, but curiosity just had to drag America up the stairs to where the two countries had disappeared to.

He hadn't left Sealand and Canada's company without having to hear them plead for him to reconsider eavesdropping, but stubborn will urged him on.

Now, he sat on the floorboards, his blue eyes peering, figuring if his parents hadn't taken the time to shut the door, the occurrence must not be all that private, right?

He observed England floating in midair, wings lightly flitting to keep him out of the grasps of gravity, and France gazing up at him, a wistful expression on his face.

"So…what do you want?"

France raised a blonde eyebrow at the Brit. "For you to come down."

England shook his head. "That's not what I meant."

"Then what else could you have meant?"

"I want to know why you're so interested in seducing me."

An immediate drainage of color in France's face said it all. "So you figured it out?"

A chuckled left England's month as he shifted to the side. "Of course. Do you think I'm stupid enough to not see through you?"

"If you are so smart, tell me what I want."

England didn't hesitate. "You want to try and convince me to allow you to take America and use him for your army."

An intense wave of shock undulated through America as he gawked at his parents. His mouth fell open, eyes augmented, goose bumps pronounced on his skin. Just how long had France been trying to convince England of this? His heart pounded, suddenly feeling vulnerable.

"You guessed correctly, _mon ange._" he admitted, seating himself on the bed; he lay on his back, so as to gaze at his husband from a comfortable angle. "I still don't understand why you refuse."

A rough sigh came from above. "How many times do I have to tell you? I'm not going to forfeit _my _son so he can fight in _your _wars in _your_ army."

It was France's turn to be annoyed at England's recalcitrant words. "He is my son, too," he reminded the Britannia Angel. "I have as much of a say on the matter as you do."

"He's my territory! I don't see your flag being waved in America."

France's sea-blue eyes shut themselves out to the world. He drew in deep breaths, calming his angering brain. "Perhaps, but I see him as much as you do."

England gritted his teeth, despising France's persistence. "If you want a bigger army, why don't you just stick Matthew in there?"

France jolted into a sitting position, appalled. "How dare you suggest such a thing? Poor innocent _Mattieu?_ In so much danger? I wouldn't even think of doing that to him."

"And Alfred isn't the same? What happened to 'He's my son, too?'?" England flipped and lowered himself until his feet grazed the comforter. "Don't tell me you are favoriting one over the other."

France was about to argue that England's mindset behaved the same way, but he expelled the words from his brain. His impatience with England would bring forth yelling and the last time that happened, divorce had almost transpired. An awkward silence between the two nations passed before England swept up his new clothes, glided to the bathroom and slipped in. The metallic click heard moments later seemed to warn France that merely turning the knob wouldn't earn him access.

Outside the confines of the bedroom, America wept, tears snaking down his cheeks. His own parents were discussing his fate without even considering his voice in the equation. He was slightly appreciative of England refusal to just hand him over into French custody, but how long would the Brit remain true to his stance? Would he eventually be broken? Through the cloud of tears, America saw France's face curl in satisfaction as a devious plot formed in his head.

The ice America stood on had just melted to a papery sheet. If France struck the platform too hard, he would tumble into the frigid waters of combat, no chance of ever surfacing.

4.

Canada never understood where America got his determination from. It seemed he was a sort of tree whose roots were so gnarled and twisted into the ground that a violent storm would merely stir its leaves and nothing else. Give America an opinion, provide a few reasons to back it up, and he would fight for his life to protect that simple point of view, even if he could be sent to the grave for it.

Although the northern territory hated to admit it, he found himself _admiring_ America's valor and willingness to stand up for the worthy cause. Sometimes, he desired to parrot his brother's bottomless vigor, but his own being seemed to forbid the Canadian from even expressing his opinion when the majority disagreed. If only he could learn….

The sound of boots clacking against steps heralded America's return from his 'expedition' to find out what France and England were doing upstairs. The sounds of sniffling accompanying the American, though, didn't suit the self-proclaim hero at all.

Canada leaned forward in his seat, his gaze filled with concern. "What happened, Al?"

America swiped away the excess water leaking from his eyes. Embarrassment overtook his emotions, as he didn't want his brother seeing him in such a distraught state. "Nothing…" he replied hoarsely, retrogressing back up the stairs.

"Come on, Alfred." Canada urged softly, getting to his Mary Janes and striding over to the colony. He placed two consoling hands on each of America's vested shoulders. "Tell me what's wrong."

America, weakened by the violet eyes fastened on him, allowed the issue to tumble from his lips. "Dad and Papa were…were talking about…me…P-p-papa- _sniff- _wants me in his a-a-army, b-but- _sob_ – I don't -_hic_ – d-d-don't wanna!" He submerged into tears, burying his face into Canada's shoulder.

The other nation rubbed his brother's back in soothing, circular motions. "It's okay," he whispered, now patting America with his palm.

The latter draped his arms around Canada's shoulders, finding bizarre nourishment in Canada's words and motions on his back. He lifted his mess of a face from the attire and shot Canada a watery smile.

Canada smiled back, America's grin extremely contagious. "Thanks for being there for me," America croaked, "You are the best brother anyone could ever have!"

Canada's pulse speeded at America's last sentence, as if the compliment was too much to bear. "_Get a grip!_" he chastised his heart, "_He just said you were a good brother! That's normal!_" Yet, his cardio muscle seemed to hold a different opinion. This ordeal returned Canada's thoughts to the things he had been mulling over before America had appeared in the living room. "So, why do you not want be part of the army?" he inquired nonchalantly, surprised at how effortlessly the phrase was uttered.

America tilted his head in perplexity. Having assumed Canada completely understood his position, he hadn't anticipated this type of interrogation from him. "I don't want to fight for France, that's all. I mean, Papa's great and all, but I have to take care of myself, you know? Besides, I want to have my own army."

Canada calmed his respiration, unsure how to put the thoughts into words that wouldn't offend or disappoint the twelve year old. "Wouldn't you like to at least learn some fighting techniques or something? It might help you in the future," his nerves were whirling with anxiousness, praying America would be receptive of his opinion.

Any trace of a complacent mood on America's visage was eradicated, substituted with deprecation. "Are you saying….that you're on…_their_ side?" he rasped, voice cracking in sorrow.

Now came the useless string of syllabication that Canada's tongue was so infamous for creating. "I….well…uh…….I-I mean…..not….that I completely….well…What I want to say is…Wait…I only was making…..ummm."

The appearance of abandonment in America's gaze tore at Canada. Why did his belief have to injure his already agitated brother? "Why can't you agree with me for once, Mattie?" Alfred yelled, his somber tone cutting deeply into Canada, "Every time there's a disagreement, you always take Dad and Papa's side. Always! No matter what, you back them up like a faithful servant. Are you just so afraid of being punished for going your own way that you have to go with the flow? I thought I wasn't alone,"

Salt water tricked out of Canada's eyes, stirred out of some unidentified emotion. "Al….i-it's not like th-"

America stomped away, infuriated, not letting Canada finish his sentence. The blonde solidified, somberly observing his twin vanish behind a wall. He knew what Alfred had misconceived about Canada's suggestion. They _were_ his opinions, what he truly wanted. They did match up with France's desires, but derived from two deviating motives. More tears cascaded down his face, as he was painfully reminded of that reason, that bittersweet reason he wished had never formed, yet it couldn't possibly be given up.

Perhaps this was why he could never reveal his conjectures; since it only seemed to hurt the ones…no…the one he loved the most.

5.

_Footnotes:_

_**Section 1:**__ A little setting of the stage bit. Not in original plot_

_**Section 2: **__France and England begin their argument, which was a lot less playful than it is here. _

_**Section 3:**__ Here is the introduction of the third plot, which says true to the canon plot with the exception of a few Hetalia details. The only reason why this section is separate from Section 2 is due to America's presence.(Note: In the original plot, Titania (England) and Oberon (France) also were accusing each other of flirting with other people, but I decided that segment to be too troublesome to include.)_

_**Section 4:**__ In Chapter 4, I added in some Giripan smut. Now, it's AmericaxCanada's (hereafter known as Matfred) turn. This is more or less a fourth plot section (You heard me. Four plots!) that does not derive from a plot line in AMSND. Of course, I could've just had them help out Sealand with the job he later performs for France, but I figured I'd include them in something separate just for the heck of it. _

_**Characters:**_

_**England-Titania: **__I really have to thank Himaruya Hidekaz for the canon fantasy in Hetalia. Without it, I would have a little difficulty deciding which characters would provide the magic power. In any case, England got this part-no questions asked. I especially enjoyed writing him as Britannia Angel, which helped to emphasize his position as the Queen of Fairies._

_**France-Oberon: **__I think France and Oberon both have the same amounts of deviousness, which aids in the execution of the plot. Of course, Oberon is a little more of a gentleman than France is, but nevertheless, the part went to our pervy Frenchman._

_**Sealand-Puck:**__ Puck and Sealand are as much opposites as England as Titania are alike. Puck, Oberon's servant fairy, likes to play practical jokes on people and laugh at a lot of things other people don't find funny. This difference in personas isn't all that big of a deal, but it's odd how Sealand was the perfect choice regardless._

_**America- Indian Boy: **__In the original, the Indian Boy doesn't have a physical part. Rather, he is merely mentioned. Since I believed the story would be more exciting if America was actually there, I included him. At first, both him and Canada were really little, but I changed their ages to preteen so I could have more romance without having to worry about age. _

_**Canada: **__Our maple-loving-polar-bear-hugging-hockey-playing friend is the only character who does not have a parallel AMSND part. I would've felt bad if I just had America time-travel with France and England. Plus, the entire FrUK family would make things a little crackier and exciting._

_**Translations and References:**_

_**Who still….your soul: **__This was a belief popular in medieval time. I'm not all that certain when it was proven that sneezing was a way to get dust out of your nose, but I figured the analogy fit nicely._

_**Sans-culotte: **__(means "those without knee britches" in French) A term used during the French Revolution to describe the poor people of France at the time who wore their pants long, instead of the traditional style worn by the nobility. This was done to show animosity to monarchy. The France of this story will not be using the term in common language until America became its own country, but I felt that it would be a cool reference to history in addition to describing how different the clothes appeared to France._

_**Nu**__- French for "nude"_

_**Mon ange**__- French for "my angel"_

**Phew was this chapter long! I didn't think it'd be so lengthy, but writing never ceases to surprise me. ****As I have said plenty of times before, thank you all for reading my fics! I appreciate all the praise and positive feedback *huggles***

**~AnimeOtakuFreak1029**


	6. Chapter 6

Sealand slouched in the swivel chair he occupied, glaring at the screen in front of him with animosity. He had been profusely searching for an incantation to counteract the one with which he had summoned his relatives from the distant past (most likely originally living sometime in the 16th century). The Internet, once a mass of infinite possibility, had now shrunk to a less impressive size with only a select amount of sites to work with. Sealand, to start off his investigation, had typed in "Celtic runes" in the search bar, assuming the search engine would point him in the right direction. The first results on the page, much to the micro nation's chagrin, discussed the Anglo-Saxon runes and the Lord of the Rings, which was not anywhere near the spells he desired to find. After three pages of these sites, Sealand hit what he thought was gold, but only discovered a series of painful passages of translation waiting for him. After an hour of staring into the glowing monitor, trying to get a sense of the paragraph's main point, he made no measurable progress.

_Why does this language have to be so unknown? _he asked himself, his forehead resting on the desk. Sealand knew he _had _a translator in the house, but he felt increasingly uncomfortable exposing someone who hadn't heard of a telescope or a piano yet near a high-tech device that might be broken if the olden country got too curious.

Figuring that paper wouldn't be harmful in any way to the Englishman, Sealand printed the home page out and any other pages that could possibly aid him in uncovering the reversal spell. A spurt of confidence restored, Sealand strolled out of the office and made his way down the carpeted staircase. Landing on the tilted floor of the foyer, he gazed into the living room, surprised to discern France fiddling with a reading lamp perched on the off-white side table flanking the checkered sofa. He enthusiastically yanked on the metal cord underneath the lampshade and watched in awe as the bulb within illuminated. He stared at the light source, reaching out to touch its heated surface. A yelp proceeded by the man jumping away from the electrical appliance indicated his finger had been singed by the light.

Sealand nonchalantly ambled to the lamp, ceasing the electrical current with a tug of the cord. "I would've assumed you'd believe anything that emits light to be hot, but I guess that's not the case," Sealand remarked, a smirk on his features.

France, still cradling his injured hand, scowled, "Interesting device, that is," he grumbled under his breath, "I would be forever grateful for an object that could glow without flames and oil."

The micro nation settled onto the sofa beside his future father. "Wait three centuries and that wish will come true," he stated, crossing his legs in his seat. "Hey, do you know where England is?"

France shook his locks in a solemn no. "Not a clue," his mind drifted back to his own problems, which included convincing England to place America in his army. He had thought of an ingenious plan moments ago, but its execution was the missing piece of the grand puzzle. Would he have to do all the work, or could someone else aid him? His sea blue eyes swerved to the child seated at his right. Problem solved. "Hey, Sealand. I have a favor to ask of you."

Sealand raised a semi-bushy eyebrow. "What is it?" he inquired.

"Well, Arthur and I have been in an argument over Alfred and Matthew," here, France snatched up a pillow, and clutched it in his arms, "I want Alfred in my army, but Arthur refuses to cooperate. How can he not? Alfred's strength is incredible! Any country in his right mind would want a colony like that on his side."

Sealand desired to inform France that America had the right to agree or decline this decision, but France didn't give out the opportunity to speak. "This is where you come in, Peter," he used his future son's human name to make things less formal. "I want to you go out and find a flower for me."

_A flower? _Sealand practically snickered out loud at the sudden transition. How would a flower help swage England's opinion?

France satisfied the question floating on Sealand's tongue. "Now, this flower is not your ordinary rose. It is a deep purple and has a very alluring aroma that is quite hard to ignore. I believe it is known as "love-in-idleness"?" the European glanced at the younger nation, searching for a sign of cognizance within his facial features.

Sealand was ruminative for a second before his face brightened in realization. "I think I've heard of that flower before! Dad has it somewhere in his garden," a wave of excitement washed his countenance, but withdrew just as powerfully. "Why are you asking me to do this and what exactly do you plan to do with the flower?"

A sort of grimace dominated France's features, an indication the nation had not expected Sealand to question the origin of his demands, but was wiped away in that instant. "I'm from the past, aren't I? You wouldn't want me out _there_, bringing all sorts of attention and whatnot."

Sealand's lower lip trembled at the mere sight of the expression wrought on France. "N-n-no…" he stuttered, shrinking into the couch. "I wouldn't…."

"Didn't think so…" France confirmed, pleased with himself. "Plus, if you agree to do this for me, I might just try to promote your nationhood at a meeting with other countries once you are born."

Sealand's blue eyes glowed as visions of unprecedented recognition flashed through his brain. Oh how Sealand hankered for a global status as a nation! Amongst the others, he was a mere child, not anywhere close to becoming a country of his own. If France could persuade the countries to accept him…He could almost hear a triumphant fanfare of his soon-to-be anthem ringing across the sea port, almost see his wondrous flag flapping in the wind amongst other nations in the world, a proud sovereign state, almost taste the bitter defeat of his father England as he fell under the rule of the mighty Peter Kirkland!

"What do you say?" France's inquisition wakened Sealand from his daydreams. Without taking a second to rethink, Sealand blurted, "Of course! I'll do it!"

"That's my micro nation!" France declared, placing his hands firmly on the twelve-year-old's shoulder. "Now go fetch me that flower. I'll explain everything to you once the herb is here."

Sealand nodded vigorously, adamancy setting into his deposition. He rose from the couch, mind completely focused on the task ahead. At one point or another, he might've briefly recalled the fact that the entire mission remained confidential, but his mind pushed these unsettling thoughts away.

1.

France had his eyes locked on Sealand until the child exited the dwelling. The European allowed himself to occupy the total space available on the sofa. Using upturned palms as a pillow, France grinned, already working out the rest of his master plan like an author would work out an intricate plot.

He had just been comparing two scenarios and their possible outcomes when two foreign voices indentified themselves. They were slightly muffled, but it was inferred the voices contained volume in order to be audible from an enclosed area. The conversation piquing his interest, he glanced through the window, spying two bickering males. They faced each other, one enraged, the other disheartened. The skin on France's forehead wrinkled in surprise as he recognized China, his ponytail and panda dead giveaways to his identity. The younger child remained free from label, France assuming it was some country that was created far after the time era he was accustomed to. Unlatching the window and pushing the pane up, he silently settled down to listen.

2.

China hadn't broken his stride in the hour he had been traveling. Naturally, he had made several rests on his journey west, but his urgency induced the country to spend the majority of his time walking, his heart pounding, not just from the strenuous exercise, but from his augmenting fear of what he would come to face with at the end of his journey. Could he impede Greece and Japan's plans or would he arrive too late? The thought of his failure haunted him and compelled him to travel faster every time his mind was reminded of what he was trying to prevent.

"Aniki!" China groaned under his breath, vexation building up in his abdomen as he turned to face Korea for the umpteenth time.

It hadn't occurred to the older nation how much damage the grief and martyrdom Korea's unrequited love had caused until this point in time. The Asian's face was lugubrious, his eyes dulled with fatigue. The utter defeat written on Korea almost brought forth tears from China's eyes. For the brusquest of moments, China held the insuperable urge to engulf the child he had once raised into his arms and apologize, but what did he have to be sorry about? China didn't love Korea. Period.

"Why are you so intent on this?" Korea wailed, exasperation in his voice, "What could you possibly gain from separating Greece and Japan?" his sleeves flapped around, appearing to be like two flimsy wings.

China frowned, folding his arms over his chest. "That's none of your business, aru," he grumbled, not in the mood to be once again interrogated about his motives. He made a move to continue his journey before those white tubes of cloth closed tightly around China's waist. He was spun around against his will so that his front was oriented toward Korea. Their foreheads were pressed together as Korea spoke. "Tell me why, aniki."

China obstinately wriggled in the hold, his hands trying to pry himself free, but the grip only grew firmer. "Let. Go. Of. Me. Aru!" he snarled through gritted teeth, the soles of his shoes stamping on Korea's flats. The younger nation made no sign of undergoing irritation, despite the strength China displayed as he inflicted damage upon the other's feet.

"I'm not letting you free until you tell me what you are working so hard to gain. Why does Japan's attention mean so much to you?" Korea's constraint squeezed China's forearms harshly to his hips. "I'm just as close to you as he is! I….I actually care about you, aniki!" Water sprinkled his irises. "More than Japan ever will."

China shuddered as he felt Korea's steamy breath moisten his lips. His pulse raced at how unbearably close they were, so close...closer than they had been in a long time. For the next passing seconds, all thought seemed to evaporate from China as he drifted into an interrogative state. Could Korea really be the person whom he was seeking? Was Japan not the right match? China's thoughts floated around, a sudden state of confusion striking him.

In a sudden moment, the old nation began to become aware of something pleasantly warm pressed against his mouth. And it felt _good_. Surprisingly good, as if an age-old craving had at last been satisfied. A bubble of utter enjoyment swelled, nerves crackling with a sensation of acceptance charged with adrenaline. His eyes fluttered open, content to gaze upon the thing that had brought with it such enlightenment.

The core of China's soul seeped into the recesses of disgust and horrification. Korea was _kissing _him. _On the lips! _In a flash, the gusto dematerialized as he ripped himself out of Korea's embrace. "What…..why were you kissing me, aru?" he inquired, trembling in repugnance.

Features watered down in ruin, Korea rasped, "I….I'm in love with you, Yao," China's pulse leaped at the usage of his real name. "I don't care if you hate me to death. I'll still love you."

The ancient nation had known for quite a long time of Korea's feelings towards him. He hadn't necessarily been subtle about them. Still, to hear to confession leak out of the Korean's mouth took the wind out of him. For an undistinguished reason, tears pricked at his eyes as he absorbed the sight of his younger brother, crushed by a force he himself was exerting. After all, he firmly did not return Korea's love.

China shook his head, clearing his thoughts from pity. He didn't love Korea. It wasn't his fault the peninsula nation had chosen the wrong person to dote upon. If the relationship didn't work out, it didn't work out. China would rather live alone and rejected than to accept love as a mere condolence. "I'm sorry, but I don't feel the same way, aru," China stated flatly over his shoulder. He began another march to the west, barricading his senses from the other's cries.

He did not love Korea. China had called to mind that concrete fact too many times to number.

Yet why did he have such a hard time believing it?

3.

Sealand re-entered the house, a flower beyond beautiful in his clutch. It hadn't been hard at all to find due to the alluring aroma France had described. He couldn't fathom how an herb could smell so distinctly like sea water and melted chocolate, but with the events of the past few hours, he was inclined to accept the oddity as truth.

France's blue eyes glittered at the sight of the bud. "Perfect, Peter! That's exactly the flower I was looking for!" he rose to his feet, eager to have the magical item in his possession. He took the flower from Sealand, for a moment drawn by its scent of baked bread, a bouquet of roses and a glass of crisp wine, but shook himself from the brief stupor. "I guess now would be the time to explain what we are going to do,"

The older country lightly rubbed one the petals as he spoke. "I don't know if you are aware of this yet, but this flower has the magical powers to make anyone fall deeply in love with anything. What you do is apply the flower's nectar to a sleeping person's eyelid. When they wake up, they will be smitten with the first living creature they lay their eyes on."

Sealand felt a question bite at his tongue, but it seemed to answer itself. "So….you want England to fall in love with you so much that he'll do whatever you say. That's how you're going to get America." A breach of certainty radiated from him as he presented his theory.

"Close." France stuck a hand into a pocket, revealing a miniscule plastic eyedropper. "I want to get Arthur to fall in love with some ugly beast." The tube slipped into the flower's narrow structure. France squeezed the rubber top, sucking up enough nectar to fill the tube. "That way, I can get back at him for the Seven Year's War. My economy is _suffering _because of all these wars." France withdrew the eyedropper, now filled with juice. He handed back the love-in-idleness bud to Sealand. "Anyway, there should be plenty of nectar for you to do your job."

The preteen was, at this point, completely perplexed at his position. "What are you doing with the nectar you took out?" he questioned "And what am I doing with the flower?"

"Well, I'm going to be taking care of Arthur, while you go and help some lovers I just saw having a struggle. I believe one of them was China."

_China?_ Sealand pursed his lips, not understanding why such an old country would be having difficulties with love.

"I didn't recognize the other nation he was with, but the latter seemed desperate for China to be his boyfriend." France flipped his locks. "I'm sure you are familiar with him, though. He was an Asian boy, with brown eyes and short, dark hair. He was-"

"OH! I know exactly who you're talking about!" Sealand exclaimed, an exultant expression on his face. "Don't know why he'd be chasing after China of all people, but I've met him before. He's a nice fellow. Quiet, yet nice and he's pretty polite, too."

A befuddle look over came France, somehow feeling that the description given did not match up with the youth he had recently witnessed. "Peter, I don't-"

"There's no need to worry, France. I've got things all under control. I know exactly who to take this to," Sealand waved his hand as a sign of dismissal. "So, where did the two of them go?"

"West into the neighboring forest. I would search there. Once you've found the couple asleep, squeeze a drop of nectar onto each of China's eyelids. If you squeeze the base of the bud, a drop should form on the top of the stigma," he indicated a thin part of the flower within the bud. "Be certain that the next thing China sees is the one interested in him. You got it?"

"Yup! Like I said, France, I know what I'm doing!"

"Okay. Hop to it then!"

Right on command, Sealand once again maneuvered to the door, racing out into the open to perform his duty. As he departed, France could only feebly hope that the self-assertive micro nation would not fail at accomplishing their goal.

4.

FOOTNOTES

_**Section 1: **__In which we discover what France needs Sealand for. Sort of similar to how Puck was dismissed by Oberon, but with fewer questions._

_**Section 2:**__ Short little bit with France. No true parallelism here._

_**Section 3: **__Oh the drama! Lemme tell you, the original was REALLY sappy when Helena tried to get Demetrius to stop. I put this into China's viewpoint, though, because I felt it would be way too dramatic if this scene was from Korea's eyes._

_**Section 4:**__ More instructions from France to Sealand. Pretty close to the original._

**Short footnotes are short due to the straightforwardness of this chapter (something I wasn't expecting.) I'm sure you all were appreciative of that in any event. See you all next update!**

**~AnimeOtakuFreak1029**


	7. Chapter 7

A cool, refreshing breeze sighed through the trees as England walked through his garden, the full moon illuminating the ground below. Now, Sealand hadn't exactly given the Brit permission to take a step outside, but England wasn't about to take orders from some son of his who wasn't even remotely close to having a title as an official country. This was perhaps too quick of a judgment upon a child he hadn't become much acquainted to, but he _despised _being cooped up and held back by anyone, no matter the relation or past history. He didn't know exactly why that was, but the trait was just as permanently melded into his genetic code as the dense eyebrows that graced his forehead.

His train of thought swiftly changed tracks as he padded underneath the shade of the many oaks and maples, their gnarled roots protruding out of the ground. England paused, eyes outlining the contorted brown tendrils lacing the dirt until he saw two rather large bulges of bark stemming directly off a trunk, each root forking in different directions.

An influx of enervation made the Englishman's eyelids heavy, as he nestled himself into the fork, back against the rough surface of the tree. He tried to remain awake by admiring the way the branches above swayed in the breeze, but the sight only encouraged him to slumber in the nighttime air.

France, his body shrouded amongst the branches of a holly bush, watched contently as England fell asleep. Stealthily, the European emerged from his hiding place, crawling until he knelt beside Arthur. With one swift moment, his fingers held the eyedropper, poised atop England's right eyelid. With scrupulous care, he squeezed a fair-sized drop on the thin skin, duplicating the action on the other eyelid. France then stowed the eyedropper away, gazing at his handiwork with an appeased smile. "I hope you fall in love with something truly hideous, dear Arthur," France murmured into the snoozing man's ear before he slunk away into the shadowed garden and back to the house.

1

Tanned fingers gripped the steering wheel of Japan's Honda Civic as the silver convertible rode along a nearly empty street, forested scenery flashing by.

The two had been on the road for around three days now, weaving from town to town in the direction of Athens with an equal amount of stops on the way. Due to Greece's tendency to doze off in the car, Japan had been the designated driver for the majority of the trip, but at their last pit stop for gas, Greece had insisted upon taking the wheel while Japan rested in the passenger seat.

Japan's rebuttal argument had been that he wasn't the least bit drained, but an hour into the drive, Japan was already peacefully asleep, proving Greece's theory.

Night had long since taken dominion in the sky, yet the Greek somehow managed to keep himself awake. This proved to be quite the struggle, what with Greece not acclimated to depriving himself of his daily cat naps. Still, as determined as ever, he continuously shook himself awake. The car was only a rough thirty miles away from the main highway according to the last road sign. This provided Greece with a muddle of mixed emotions: relief that they were that much closer to Athens, excitement that their elopement would precede the following morning, fear that he would become victim to his pressing urge to rest his eyes while they traveled on one of the busiest highway in all of Greece. In order to keep his brain at work, he began calculating the duration of the remainder of their trip. After the car got off the exit ramp onto the Nea Ethniki Odos Athinon-Thessalonikis, there would be around another thirty miles or so before they reached the fringes of Athens. He estimated a good hour and a half to drive the indicated distance. Or would it be less time? Being that fewer cars would be on the road at- Greece's eyes flicked to the digital numbers on the clock- 22:00, there was a lesser likelihood for traffic, yet they were heading into a densely populated city. There might as well be congestion or even an accident along the way that would impede trav-

Eyelids flapped closed as Greece crumbled under the weight of his fatigue.

Japan awoke to a quite jarring shift in the car, as if the vehicle had ridden over a bump in the pavement. The Oriental man blinked the mist from his sight, gazing at the near to empty street out the passenger window. He briefly caught a glimpse of a green road sign, but since he didn't comprehend Greek letters, he couldn't read the information printed upon them. The small island nation shifted in his chair to gaze at the driver of the car and asked groggily "Hera-kun, where…?"

Japan sat erect; completely mortified at the sight of his fiancé slumped over the wheel, his chest a steady rise and fall, and a light snore here and there. Just how long had the man been snoozing while-driving? Was he that tired at night? All the questions evaporated as he noticed how the space between their car and the one in front was steadily shrinking. Hysteria flooding his senses, Japan lunged toward the wheel screeching his lover's name in an effort to wake him. The yelp worked perfectly, jerking the Greek wide awake. He obviously didn't comprehend the present situation due to the heavy-laid somnolence still existent in his cerebral, but he did understand Japan's terror. Soon that fear overtook him, causing those tanned hands to violently grab the wheel and turn it in a random direction while pressing on the brakes, which then caused the car to veer off the road, careen down the hill on the side and into the brush flanking the pavement. The vehicle came to an abrupt standstill inches away from a rather large tree. Both passenger lurched forward due to the short stop and were hurtled back against their respective seats, completely startled at what had just transpired.

Immediately, Japan unbuckled himself and crawled over to Greece, sandwiching his face in between his gaunt hands. "Are you okay, Hera-kun?" Japan inquired, voice quaking in anxiety, his brown eyes scanning Greece for any visible injuries.

"I'm perfectly fine, Kiku," he reassured softly. He patted the back of Japan's left hand in comfort, but was distracted. "What happened here?" he brushed back Japan's thick bangs, revealing a weld on the side of the man's forehead.

Japan tried to quell the wince as Greece's fingers passed over the throbbing area, but failed. "I...It's just a bump. Don't worry about it," he grinned weakly.

Greece's eyes remained edged with worry. "Did your head hit the window?"

"The dashboard. I'll live, though, Hera-kun. I've had worse injuries."

Lips tenderly brushed the sore. "Positive? There's a first-aid kit in the glove compartment."

"I'm sure."

Greece didn't press his concerns any further; rather, he unbuckled himself and looked to the back seat to see how the cats had faired during their accident. To his consolation, Corporal Cat, Theseus, and Hana were flustered, yet without injury.

Japan hopped out of the Civic, checking the exterior for any damage. Since the airbags hadn't been deployed, he was positive the automobile hadn't received any major wounds. True to his conclusion, everything was in good condition (minus several minor scratches to the paint job).

"I'm really sorry, Kiku….." The shorter man's attention turned to Greece, who stood nearby, guilt written all over his face. "I'll pay for any repairs if necessary." The Mediterranean nation knew just as well as anyone that monetary compensation from him was a shallow offer, but he figured he could dish something of decent value up for his fiancé.

Japan found himself beaming at the compassion within Greece's offer. "That won't be necessary." The Asian padded closer, giving Greece the opportunity to capture Japan's waist in his arms. "Besides, you need all the money you can get to help pay off your debt."

Greece rubbed his cheek affectionately into the crook of the other's neck, almost purring in delight.

As per usual, Japan's cheeks flared red. "We…we should get back on the-" his sentence was broken by a cavernous yawn. With eyelids dropping, he continued, "-road as soon as possible. I'm sure the tow service is 24-hour…"

Greece shook his head. "Let's wait until morning to get back to the road. Both of us are too tired to drive."

"I can manage." Japan pulled away from Greece, taking a somewhat unstable step forward, listing from side to side as he advanced. Greece had to catch the island nation in order to keep him from tripping.

"I would think not. You walk like England does after a night at a bar." He pressed the other against his chest, cheek on hair. He was lightly surprised how easily Japan was swept up in his arms, bridal-style.

Greece searched the undergrowth for an area comfortable enough for sleep, yet not too far from the Civic. Said location was sighted a mere few seconds after the search began. A bed of moss was growing along the crest of a dip into a slender stream that slithered deeper into the woodlands. Some of the moss extended past the crest, clinging onto the very base of a nearby tree.

Greece meticulously rested Japan in between these two points, nestling his own body next to his lover, Tenderly, he pet Japan's silky hair, simply adoring how utterly cute Japan appeared as he sluggishly drifted off to sleep, half-lidded eyes closing. He then proceeded to pepper the Asian with light kisses, bringing Japan closer, foreheads brushing.

Japan wasn't quite asleep through all this. His brain was muddled with intense languor, only barely registering the light pecks Greece covered his skin with. For once, he didn't seem to mind their contact and even slightly snuggled into the warm embrace, loving how the utter relief seemed to seep into the core of every muscle and bone in his body. The sensation was a pleasurable one- that is, until an unwanted hand snaked down his body, outlining his hip.

"Girisha-kun…" Japan murmured, body stiff in a light horror, "What are you doing?"

Greece seemed taken aback to hear Japan's voice so suddenly, but he didn't dwell upon the expression. "I want to sleep with you. That's all. It's also dark in the forest. I didn't want you to be alone."

Japan's mind wrapped itself around the Greek's first sentence. He felt the commonplace burning cheeks at the thought and soon felt discomfited sharing body heat with his lover. "Um…..I think if you slept somewhere else...it'll be more comfortable."

Greece's mouth was at Japan's ear. "Oh. I didn't mean sleeping with you in _that_ way," his tender chuckle tickled Japan's earlobe. "I merely wished to cuddle close to you…..Besides….the ground is too uncomfortable to have sex. Neither of us would enjoy it."

Japan's entire body shivered as Greece nibbled on the cartilage of his ear. Although he doubted Greece would pull a fast one on him, he still couldn't shake off the feeling that his lover was trying to seduce him in some way. Palms pushing on the others chest, Japan gave him a stern look. "I would still appreciate it if you weren't so close. There's some more moss on the other side of the creek. Why don't you sleep there?"

A brief spell of intense deprecation shot down Greece's spine, but he pulled reluctantly away from Japan, coming to his knees. Just before he rose to his feet, Japan draped an arm around the other's neck, craning his neck to place a light kiss on Greece's lips. Japan soon withdrew and rolled over without another word, leaving Greece to gaze at the other's back, words on the tip of his tongue.

As Greece stepped over the trickle of water, his thoughts returned to how discomfited Japan seemed with the simplistic action of huddling close to another human being. Greece had completely acknowledged the shorter man's skittishness in respect to intimacy, but this wasn't the first time the two had snuggled. Why was Japan acting up all of a sudden? His theories soared around in his skull, settling his body down onto the bed of moss and lulling himself to sleep.

2

A holler of surprise discordantly sounded through the woodland, preceded by a mish-mash of rustling leaves and snapping branches. Sealand staggered forward, clutching his hat before the low-hanging thorn plants claimed it as their own. The micro nation was thankful that nature had provided him with a clear sky and an ivory full moon to guide him along his path, but the dense vegetation casted an immense amount of shadows on the rugged soil, keeping certain roots or stones hidden from plain sight. This downfall was already taking its toll, as Sealand's clothes were ripped in several places and his knees scuffed and scraped from skidding on the ground. Even so, the twelve-year old's cerebral was securely fastened upon his goal to become a recognized nation and an insuperable determination had been conceived out of the prospect of gaining such a prize. Thus, a few brambles and bushes weren't going to impede the boy in any way.

But a random convertible might.

Sealand made a double take when his body rammed into a cumbersome metallic object. After he regained sufficient balance, he identified the item as a- he strode to the trunk to read the lettering on the back- Honda Civic. Being that most of the foliage growing on the rise flanking the street looked squashed, Sealand hypothesized that the vehicle had recently careened off the road. There was much oddity to the scene, though. No heavy damage or unconscious passengers were accounted for and it was obvious no policeman had been notified of the incident. Could the automobile have been dumped here? Sealand immediately discarded the possibly. Even if someone was insane enough to rid themselves of a perfectly usable car, they would've been conspicuous and targets for suspicion by passersby.

Sealand's jumbled thoughts were interrupted when a cat mewl sounded in the forest, its origin within the Civic. Interest piquing, the youth ventured to the vehicle and craned his head through one of the rolled-down windows.

To his bewilderment, three cats were squirming on a blanket resembling the Greek flag as if settling down for the night. Immediately, Sealand held a strong hypothesis as to who this car belonged to, but the preteen couldn't recall a time when Greece drove a Civic... From the scarce memories of Greece getting into or out of a car; a blue Ford had been the constant vehicle. Now that Sealand thought about it, he had seen _someone_ drive around an automobile similar to the one he stood in front of… and that was-

_Wait, why would _they _be traveling together?_ Sealand wondered, perplexed even further. _I mean, I know they're good friends, but…_

The sea port shook his head. He was wasting moonlight postulating the various reasons why this Honda Civic so happened to be in his path. _Besides, _he thought, _the Honda Civic is a popular car. And I'm sure that there are other cat-lovers in Greece other than the country himself._

He began to head away from the vehicle when he spotted an oddly-shaped figure off a few feet away. As he hesitantly approached, he identified the figure as a human…a sleeping human…a sleeping human he could even further place identification upon- Japan.

_So the Civic was his after all…_ He lowered himself to a crouching position, taking notice of another person on the opposite bank of a stream. _Is that…China? _Eyelids were crumpled up as Sealand squinted across the watery separation. _No…it's Greece….which makes sense….but why…?_

Sealand returned to normal height and cleared the waterway with ease. He gazed at the snoozing Greek, making positive his eyes weren't pulling a prank on him.

The blond folded his arms, being mindful of the plant in his hand. _I don't get it. France said China was the one Japan was mooning over. If anything, Japan should be trying his hardest to win him over…_ his train of thought then came to an abrupt halt, slowly backtracking to the simple concept of Japan chasing after China. Now that Sealand pondered over that fact, a flaw in the picture became prominent for the first time, like a person who had recently discovered one part of the piece that appeared edited in from another picture.

_Since when did Japan ever have such a desire to date China? Heck, he _dislikes _the guy for all I know. Even if he did love China, he wouldn't have put on such a show for France._ The train froze once again at the mention of France. He knew just as well as any other country that France was a mischievous character whose antics could often be shady_. What if France is just trying to use this whole helping-out-Japan scheme so I'm distracted from what's really happening? Or…_ His eyes illuminated with shock..._what if he's trying to cause trouble with love lives of other countries? That's gotta be it! _

Anger seared in Sealand's chest. _That bastard! He doesn't have the right to meddle with other people's feelings! Especially if everyone ends up hurting each other over it._ Sealand, a heroic aura encircling him, began to turn on his heels when his eyes caught the love-in-idleness bud.

_I can't just go back…..France will definitely notice that I didn't put nectar on anyone's eyes…and if he does then….I won't be able to be considered for official nation status! _With this in mind, Sealand tilted the flower upside-down and followed the instructions France had provided him earlier until a droplet of liquid materialized on the end of the stigma. Sealand tenderly shook the plant, aiming to remove the drop, but this proved ineffective. Frowning, Sealand rubbed his finger against the bulge of nectar, but it remained stationary on the flower.

_Just my luck…_Sealand grumbled in his inner monologue. _Of course, the flower had to be the type that is cursed so that the nectar can only be put onto a sleeping person's eyes._ His blue orbs flicked to Greece. _I guess these two will have to do. After all, they know each other extremely well. It'll be no surprise if they fell in love with one another._

He crouched down once again, leaving nectar on each eyelid. Once the task had been completed, he cautiously nudged the Greek with his foot so that he faced Japan's direction.

Sealand scrambled over to Japan's side, getting on his knees in preparation to coat the former's eyelids with the plant liquid. A precipitous ensemble of ambient sound destroyed Sealand's concentration. It seemed a person was trekking through the wood and having as much difficulty as he had moments before. A foreign sense of panic bubbled in his throat causing him to flee the scene, leaving Japan's eyelids free of nectar.

3

FOOTNOTES:

_**Section 1: **__In the original, Titania (England) was supposed to be lulled to sleep by her fairy henchmen. This would've been an okay setting, but I really had no desire to linger on this section all too much. Fairy stuff would've been too descriptive and lengthy. So I had the trees and wind do the lulling instead._

_**Section 2: **__This section didn't exactly go in the direction I originally planned it to go in. At first, I wanted to have Greece and Japan to be walking in the woods when I remembered that this fic was set in a more modern day setting. (I do realize that China and Korea mostly walk, but I figured China was old and he would prefer the old-fashioned way of doing things over the new and improved). I considered having Japan and Greece fly to Athens, but that would make things difficult for Sealand to show up before they got married. Thus, I settled for a road trip. It was incredibly fun to write Greece falling asleep while driving. The argument bit between the two of them about where they should sleep is actually a part in the play. This separation may seem insignificant, but it is actually vital to the next chapter._

_**Section 3:**__ Remember Sealand's fatal mistake from the summary? Well, here's where we find out what it is! The part is interesting since how the mistake is made is very different from the original. In AMSND, Puck's only description of the person he needed to put nectar on was "a man with Athenian clothes." Since both Lysander and Demetrius fit the description, It was easy for Puck to think Lysander was the person of Oberon's description .I sorta did the same thing with Sealand, with him mistaking Korea for Japan, but because France would've known what China looked like, Sealand couldn't have put the liquid on Greece's eyes without believing France had been either lying or mistaken instead._

TRANSLATIONS AND REFERENCES

_**Japan's Honda Civic:**__ Not only is Honda Japan's last name, but it is one of the biggest names in automobiles which did, in fact, originate in Japan. I wanted to have the model of Japan's car the most popular Honda car in said country, but I couldn't find much on the subject. Thus, I used the Civic (which is actually the most popular car manufactured internationally). Plus, I didn't want Japan driving around in an SUV when the only passengers are him, Greece and a couple of cats._

_**Nea Ethniki Odos Athinon-Thessalonikis: **__Translates to New Nation Road Athens-Thessalonikis and it is a major highway that runs through the middle of Greece and cuts straight through Athens. It is more or less the equivalent of the USA's Route 81 (A route that goes virtually uninterrupted from the east to the west of the country)._

_**22:00:**__ 10 PM on a 24-hour clock. _

_**Corporal Cat:**__ A Reference to World Series episode 2 (54 if you're counting from the first episode of the entire series._

_**Theseus: **__Mythological figure in Greek mythology who traveled through a labyrinth to slay the Minotaur. He was Heracles's half-brother and is also a character in AMSND (represented by Germany)_

_**Hana: **__Japanese for flower._

**And that's it for this chapter! See you all next update!**

**~AnimeOtakuFreak1029**


	8. Chapter 8

Korea snarled as yet another thorn scraped against the skin of his cheek. It wasn't that he hated being in the woods, but he was completely opposed to the existence of such sharp objects on foliage. He also disliked how the only available path was smack dab through the middle of them. However, he possessed no time to whine about a couple of measly scratches, not when China's whereabouts were no longer a certainty. Once the sunset had diminished, keeping on course behind China had become a near impossible task. The full moon aided a great deal, but China was purposefully seeking to lose Korea among the tree trunks and rocks- a feat the older man had succeeded in.

At long last, Korea emerged from the tangle of white claws, taking a moment to examine the scratches for any sign of blood. When a lack of wounding was confirmed, Korea took in a deep breath, angling his vision to the stars. Once he pinpointed Polaris among the dots of light, he began to contemplate which direction he should take. He knew China would mostly likely want to head towards Athens, where that couple was almost guaranteed to be wed. The only remaining roadblock: how to get there from a forest seemingly in the middle of nowhere. Heading in a randomly selected direction until he reached civilization wouldn't be a wise idea, being that he lacked any efficient knowledge in Greek and thus wouldn't possess the ability to ascertain his route to the capital. And even if he managed to do so, would he arrive at an already cancelled wedding? The thought was unnerving, especially when he would, in effect, be the ultimate cause for it.

The eastern nation shook his head of the discomforting prospects. He shouldn't discourage himself when he had no idea what lay ahead of him. He still had a reasonable chance to at least warn the engaged countries of China's approach. That would be at least better than not doing anything at all to help the situation.

His ears pricked suddenly at the sound of the drone of an engine in the distance. Squinting at the wall of trees, he managed to make out a flash of what appeared to be headlights. A burst of hope bloomed in his chest. If the road was a major highway, he would have no trouble finding a capital like Athens. With a new focus in mind, Korea took a triumphant step forward-

Unfortunately, the step had been poorly placed next something laying in the way, causing Korea to trip clumsily over said object and land headlong into the gurgling stream beyond. He lifted his face and hair out of the water and tried his best to wipe the dripping water off the surfaces that had made contact with it. All the while, he grumbled to himself how of all nights, luck neglected to treat him to at least a portion of success.

"….Korea…?"

The Asian started, his breath caught in his trachea. He whipped around, coming face-to-face with Greece. Shock overtook the rather tall nation as he had expected him and Japan to already be in Athens. _This means…._he pondered, _that China won't have anything to prevent if he beats Greece and Japan to their wedding place. Not only that, but I can now warn them in advance like I planned. Luck must be kind after all! _A smile temporarily lit up his features, that is, until he registered the uncanny look the tanned man gave him. It had the appearance of a hybrid between shock and desire. The former: understandable. The latter: not so much.

Nevertheless, Korea replied rather cautiously, "Um…hi, Greece…Sorry to wake you up and stuff. I kinda didn't see y-"

In the blink of an eye, Greece's nose was firmly pressed against his. "How could I possibly be angry to wake up to a face as utterly beautiful as yours," His jade-colored irises were locked on Korea, who was now slowly shrinking away from the other man in utter disgust.

"I-I-I think you have the wrong Asian," Korea stuttered, nerves incurring spasms every time Greece leaned forward to touch their noses again. "You ought to be saying those sort of things to Japan!"

Greece blinked, befuddled. "Why?"

Korea's jaw fell away from the rest of his face, gawking at the words his ears had just received. Was Greece that groggy after waking up? Was he fooling around with him? But it seemed out of the blue for someone who took his relationship so seriously to suddenly let it all leak from his memory. "Um…hello? Earth to Greece! You've been mooning over Japan for I don't know how long! Does the word "elope" ring a bell?"

Greece's lips slightly curved into a smirk. "I don't want to marry Japan anymore. He's too boring and doesn't understand intimacy," the European sandwiched Korea's legs between his, arms at either side of the Asian's torso, neck craned so it there remained as little space as possible. "You, on the other hand, are much more suited for me."

Yong Soo began a jittery laugh, sound attempting to be coherent words flying from his mouth in a confusing lump. "Japan!" he cried over his shoulder as he nearly caught a kiss from his unwanted suitor," would you please wake up and smack some sense into your fiancé? He's delusional!"

A firm hand clapped over lips. Korea struggled in Greece's embrace on him, as his head was forcibly lifted upwards toward the cat-lover. "Please…don't wake him up…I wouldn't want our time together to be interrupted," he rubbed a thumb on one of Korea's cheeks, an airy smile upon his face.

Korea pounded on Greece's chest in exasperation, not finding any of Greece's aims to court him appealing. He was able to liberate himself from the other's grasp and flee to Japan's side of the stream. Korea then proceeded to prod the older nation with a foot. "Could you at least say something to him, Japan? Please?"

As if the plead had, through extremely low odds, been comprehended, Japan shifted in his sleep, moaning in distress. "No, Heracles….Don't…."

"You see?" Korea indicated to Japan with a slender index finger, eyes glaring at the Greek. "He doesn't want you to flirt with me! Why don't you take your lover's advice and stop freaking me out? It's not funny!"

Perplexity seemed to be Greece's only reaction. "Japan is not my lover anymore," he remarked simply, a more or less lengthy version of the word "no".

Korea's panic only grew to a larger quantity as he found himself speeding off deeper into the woods, hoping that he may lose his pursuer in the dense forest. For the first time, he began to sympathize with China, understanding how much of an annoyance an unsought person trailing behind could be.

1

_High cavern walls, smooth and damp to the touch, flanked either of Japan's sides as he delved cautiously toward the flickering of torch light. His breath was somehow even, despite the rattling heart inside Japan's chest. It felt as if he were about to fling himself into war without knowing why he wanted to endanger his very existence in the first place. Of course, the obvious lack of reinforcements marching behind him or his boss at his side proved that no country interested in warfare was waiting to ambush in the cave ahead. What lived in there was the question Japan longed for an answer to. He held the desire to cease his advancement to uncertainty and flee the scene, but his legs seemed absurdly determined to transport him to this particular cave._

_Once he stood in the entrance, Japan immersed in the sight of an eerie cavern. Protruding from the floor were torches, their quivering light illuminating the room. The nation took steps forward, the only noise made by water losing their grips on stalactites and bursting onto the waiting stalagmites below. As he treaded on, he caught sight of a quite peculiar statue placed in between two columns of rock. The male was dressed as if from an ancient empire of Europe-plates of armor on his chest and shoulders, a skirt, and a shield attached to his left forearm. The man held a stance of cowering, mouth open, glazed eyes wide in terror, as if the figure was gazing upon something more gruesome than could possibly be described. In the next open space, another statue lay, this type in the likeness of a woman dressed in a chiffon toga, sandals on her feet, a look of trepidation on her face. _

_Japan passed by numerous stone figures as he maneuvered to the back of the cavern: a horse rearing up with its nostrils flared, a soldier in an Austria Succession getup, armed with rapier, a women in an exquisitely embroidered dress and feather-edged fan, a child from his own land dressed in a yukata, even a teenager from present day, complete with a baseball cap worn backwards, baggy jeans and earphones to an MP3 player permanently lodged in his ears._

_Every time Japan found himself in eye contact with the sightless figures, a shiver of foreboding ran down his spine. He started to turn toward the exit back where he had come, but he stopped at the sight of movement in his peripheral vision._

_A heap of brown was coiled in the far back of the cave, the mass giving rise and fall, as if breathing. Japan advanced with curiosity, his attention drawn to the tousle of thin tendrils sat the edge of the heap. As the distance between him and the thing shortened to a mere few inches, Japan could spot every strand writhing and...hissing?_

_Before he could bend over to examine the oddity closely, something grabbed him by the upper arm, covered his mouth and dragged him over behind a column, forcing him to press his back against the brick-red stone._

"_Are you crazy? She might've woken up if you had gone too close." An all-too-familiar voice chastised harshly, a tone that clashed with his normal lethargic temperament._

_Japan tilted his head so he could maintain eye contact with Greece. "You didn't need to scare me like that though…" Japan pointed out after he successfully pried Greece's hand away from his lips. "Why did you call that thing a "she"?"_

_Greece blinked slowly. "Have I ever told you about the woman in Greek mythology who was so ugly, she could turn any living thing to stone?"_

_Japan shook his head so that his black bangs swayed lightly across his forehead. "Not in great length, but I have heard of such a tale." It was here Japan recognized the dynamic difference in Greece's attire. He was wrapped in a white toga that came to mid-calf, carrying a circular shield with lustrous metal and gold-rimmed sandals on his feet._

"_That thing you were just looking at is Medusa. If she had made eye contact with you, you would've been a new stone figure for her collection," he explained in an undertone voice. "…We may be able to sneak out if we're quiet… here-" a sword made of a thick sort of bronze and a shield of his own were placed in Japan's possession. "Just in case Medusa d-"_

_A chorus of hissing was detected from behind as the monster arose. "I know you are here in my home, little mortals. Come out, come out wherever you are," Medusa coaxed, her voice hoarse and raspy, as if her esophagus hadn't made contact with a drop of water in centuries. Japan's heart leapt to his mouth. Their chances of escaping had narrowed impressively._

"_It looks like we'll need to fight her," the words quivered, unstable, as Greece began to explain., "Our best bet will probably be to try and sever her head like Perseus did in the myth. Make sure you always keep your eyes on your shield when you approach Medusa. You can only look at her face indirectly…." For the first time, a hardened look worthy of a practiced army man was expressed upon his countenance. "I'll distracted her while you attack from behind." Greece rose to his sandaled feet with great care, Japan at his side. He gave his lover a fleeting kiss before forsaking his refuge behind the pillar, unveiling himself to Medusa. _

_Japan arranged himself so that he could remain undetected, but see the confrontation in the reflection in the underside of his shield. Greece had his back turned to a heavily-aged womanlike creature. Her head of snakes slithered in place on her crowded scalp as she spoke. "Ah!~ So, you are the human who was so kind enough to pay me a visit. How nice."_

_Greece stood stationary, eyes fastened tightly on the shield. "I'm not visiting, Medusa…. In fact, I'll be leaving right now." Japan, impressed with the calm tone of his lover's voice skulked out of his hiding place, lining himself in such a way that the monster couldn't spot him in the reflection in Greece's shield._

"_So you know about me? Not many people care for Greek mythology these days, you know….Like the boy over there." A putrefying fingernail indicated the statue of the teenager. "He was so engrossed in whatever was in his ears that he barely reacted when I looked into his eyes, but I certainly know that's not the case with you, Heracles Karpusi." _

_Greece flinched a miniscule amount at the mention of his name, but still remained motionless._

"_Surprised, are you? I may be older than your mother, but I still keep up with the current world." Here, she advanced until the front of her ragged body was just about pressed against Greece's back. Her hair extended their sinuous bodies and pecked at his cheeks, pulled on his hair, Medusa's chin rested on a toga-clad shoulder._

"_If you take a peek at my face, you won't ever have to worry about that colossal debt of yours, or that ugly Turkey that makes fun of you every chance he gets. I would surround your statues with the cats I have frozen and you would never need to feel the pain of battle or heartbreak ever again." Her snakes continued to prod and poke Greece's head and face as she talked. "I know you're dying to look."_

_Japan advanced closer, silently extending the sword, effectively trying to size the blow he would have to deliver in order to slay the Gorgon toying with his lover's emotions. He frowned, discovering that Medusa was too close to Greece's head, preventing him from making a killing swipe without decapitating Heracles in the process. _

She probably did that on purpose…._Japan guessed, frustration making his jaw taunt. He could attempt to stab her in the back, but would she be killed? What if her only weak point occurred in her neck? If that were the case, he would somehow need to devise a method to separate Medusa from Greece without alerting her of his presence._

"_Forget about the world, Greece. Be free from the hardships of life."_

_In the image reflected on his shield, he witnessed in abhorrence as Greece's neck tilted upward and slowly maneuvered toward the shoulder on which Medusa settled her chin._

"_No! Heracles! DON'T!" he vociferated in distress._

_But Japan already noticed the gray coloring invading Greece's tanned skin, his bleach-white toga, the shield now a rough slab of stone. His ashen-encased eyeballs were edged in a tacit dolefulness, insinuating his inner turmoil and grief. All the while, Medusa cackled in triumph, as if her decomposing eardrums held the mystical power of hearing the political body of Greece collapsing with its representation's demise._

_Out of panic, common sense evaded Japan in a crucial moment. Ungluing his gaze from his shield, he pivoted his head around to be positive his fellow nation and boyfriend had truly solidified into minerals, but his own eyes had traipsed too far from security, stumbling straight into the petrifying scrutiny of Medusa's irises…_

A loud gasp erupted from the Asian's mouth, his abdomen heaving in hysteria, eyes darting frantically in their sockets. Japan rolled onto his left side, panting, and running his fingertips along his cheeks and forehead, ascertaining that he remained a full-functioning person. He returned to lying on his back, fingers now traveling through his hair. Dreams and nightmares weren't regular occurrences for the island nation; rather, years could fill the periods between one prominent fantasy and the next. Thus, when the elusive detailed vision occurred, he woke up in a cold sweat and stayed fazed for a good minute or so.

"Hera-kun…" he whispered, angling his body to gaze upon his living, breathing lover, but the opposite bank was deserted. Another weak wave of panic rushed through him, but was short-lived. Greece could just as well be relieving his bladder or double-checking on his cats. _Patience in a virtue._ The age-old saying reverberated in his skull as he prepared to wait.

His eyes, now adjusted to the low quantity of light, observed the silhouetted leaves and erect trees of the Grecian forest. He then lowered his gaze to the soil, tracing the rocks and roots until an indentation in the dirt was spotted. Japan craned his neck, outlining the print with an index finger, and identifying the depression as a shoeprint-specifically belonging to the person whom he had just witnessed die in his mind's eye.

Japan rose to his own feet, discovering another footprint in the vicinity, only the shape was of a ballet flat. A jolt of anxiety sent Japan's pulse a-flutter, knowing all too well this type of footwear were a common sight to be seen enveloping China's tiny soles.

_But why would China be here? He couldn't have figured out our elopement plans….Unless….._ Utter infuriation leaked into Japan's emotions. _I have no time to waste naming scapegoats. The quicker I find Greece and China, the sooner I can prevent anything happening to our plans. _the Asian immediately began a fast walk so as to cover a good amount of distance without tripping over any obvious obstructions. He prayed to at least confront his once close older brother upon the premise of his business in his lover's house.

2

Sealand reached his arm out to knock on the door when a book lying forsaken on the ground grabbed his attention. He crouched down, now close enough to read the letter attached to the cover:

Dearest Peter,

If you are reading this piece of paper right now, I believe I can safely assume that you have placed the nectar of the love-in-idleness flower on China's eyes. This then means that half of my plan is complete. The only missing piece: making sure our dear Arthur is smitten with some horrendous creature. I spent the last few hours before I wrote this letter browsing through Arthur's spell book collection (which has grown quite bigger over the last few centuries, let me tell you) and I came across this volume dedicated to transforming one living thing into another living thing. I'm hoping that you can whip up a decently ugly animal for Arthur to moon over. Also, I found a pocket-sized book of simple spells in case you need them.

Your fellow nation,

Francis Bonnefoy (France)

P.S Arthur is in the garden under an oak tree.

The sea port tucked the items under an arm and backtracked down the stoop, strolling toward his father's well-tended garden.

3

_FOOTNOTES_

_**Sections:**_

_**Section 1: And here is where things start getting messed up. This is pretty close to the original plot.**_

_**Section 2, part 1: In the actual story, Hermia (Japan) does have a dream, but we only see her wake up from it. I decided to take this unknown detail and make something interesting out of it. Since I have a weakness for Greek mythology, I had the dream sequence be based upon the myth of Medusa, one of the Gorgon sisters that could turn anyone to stone with one glance. It might seem odd for Japan to dream about Greek mythology, but I felt that Japan's interest in Greek culture would urge him to do at least a little research, which could've triggered this.**_

_**Section 2, part 2: Originally, Hermia went into the woods to seek out Lysander, but I felt things would make more sense if Japan believed China had seen them or something.**_

_**Section 3: This sort of thing didn't happen at all in the original, but I wanted there to be some sort of connection between this chapter and the event of the next one.**_

_**Translation and References:**_

_**Polaris: The more formal name for the North Star. (If you ever wised to find it in the night sky, it is part of the Ursa Minor/Little Dipper constellation.)**_

_**Greece's Outfit in the Dream Sequence: The Ancient Greek getup our cat-lover sports in this section is loosely based on Perseus's weapons and such. Greece's sandals are suppose to represent Hermes flying shoes that Perseus is given via Athena. The shield and sword were also Athena's gifts. The only difference between Greece's outfit and Perseus's is the absence of the helmet that made Perseus invisible. Since I wanted Greece to turn into a statue, I edited this detail out.**_

**Author's Note: I hoped you enjoyed this chapter of AMSMM! See you all next update.**

**~AnimeOtakuFreak1029**


	9. Chapter 9

"CUT!"

Prussia's lips were agape, mid-sentence, when Lithuania's cue departed his mouth. The aforementioned nation growled under his breath, irritated that he couldn't complete one of his lines without being interjected by someone offstage.

"What's the prob, Liet?" Poland inquired, tilting his head to the side. "Did one of us totally bomb our lines or something?"

"No…" the brunette replied. He paged through a few packets, scanning over their contents rapidly before selecting some from the pile. "I was searching our play online and I found a better script for us to use." Here, Lithuania passed each member a new set of lines, exchanging these new parts for the older scripts they had previously owned.

"Why didn't I get a new one?" Russia questioned, violet eyes brilliantly shining in a supposed innocent curiosity.

"Well, you're going to have the same exact part, so I felt no need to print out a newer version."

Russia appeared disheartened for a brief moment, but his face took on a brighter expression as Lithuania commenced his overview of the new script.

"Now, let me explain each of your parts. Prussia and Poland are still Pyramus and Thisbe, so no changes there. Latvia will play the wall that separates them."

"Um…" Latvia piped up, "I have a question. Just how am I going to be a wall?"

"Here," Lithuania came to his fellow Baltic's side, flipping through the script until he came to Latvia's first appearance. "You are going to stand in between Prussia and Poland while they are both onstage-" Lithuania took a few steps back until he stood at the center of the clearing they had been practicing in. "spread your arms-" here, Lithuania extended his arm span to full length. "-and make either a V-shape or a circle with your fingers to act as the hole through which the lovers will communicate,"

Finished with his demonstration, he returned to the group. "Estonia, you are now Moonshine, or the man in the moon."

Estonia idly nudged his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "That is most interesting, but will there be any need for this if the audience can see the moon?"

Lithuania widened his eyes, indicating this problem had completely flown over their "director's" head. He pursed his lips, meditating the point, before replying carefully. "We might be having the play indoors….and even if that wasn't the case, I don't think the audience will be all too concerned about those kinds of details."

Estonia shrugged and returned his attention to the packet in his possession.

Lithuania, looking satisfied, clasped his hands together and announced. "Okay. Places everyone! Let's run through the first scene once. You can keep your scripts with you if you haven't got your lines down yet."

The temporary actors dispersed themselves amongst the field into their respective spots.

"ACTION!"

* * *

Sealand had been heading in the general direction of England's garden, when his ears caught multiple voices off amongst the glade of oak trees to the right of the picket fence the separate the woodland from the garden. Curiosity killing the cat, Sealand changed direction to investigate, weaving in between many deciduous and evergreen trees. A clearing soon spread out in front of the micro nation, an assembly of countries at its center. Squinting in the moonlight, he could just barely make out the silhouette of Poland and Prussia standing on opposite sides of …was that Latvia?- as if the aforementioned nation served as a barrier between them.

Sealand tiptoed along the rim of the clearing using the umbrage casted by the canopy of the foliage as cover. Eventually, he became close enough to overhear what exactly was the occurrence. In order to observe as discreetly as possible, Sealand retrogressed into the deeper shadows of the forest.

"Oh, my dear Thisbe!" Prussia's tone soared dramatically as he spoke. "Your breath is just like the sweet-smelling odious-"

"Odors." Lithuania corrected, his voice an abrupt hiss.

"-sweet-smelling odors of all the world's flowers combined. If I were-"he paused, eyes swiveling to where Sealand was concealed.

The seaport's heart leaped onto his tongue as Prussia excused himself from the rest of troupe and strode up to the edge of the clearing. Immediately, Sealand retreated, jogging fast enough to stay ahead without being detected.

"Who's there?" the Prussian called, his voice firm. Sealand slid behind a felled tree, praying the other wouldn't hear the rustle of leaves his footsteps created. Here, Sealand leafed through the book of animal spells France had provided him, scanning through the index with panicked eyes.

Among the mass of animal transformation spells, Sealand's eyes fastened on one that looked the easiest to recite: "Htiw eht rewop fo eht Tneicna Cigam detsev ni em, yam siht nam eb nevig eht daeh fo eyi yekond."

Faster than a three-year-old with five tons of sugar injected into their system, a mystical sphere of energy rocketed from Sealand's hand and collided right into Prussia's face, sending him straight to the leafy carpet.

After registering the soft thump of Prussia's fall, Sealand peeked out from behind his refuge, his mind drawing blanks as to the results of his frantic spell work.

As soon as his gaze caught wind of his creation, he wished he had remained hidden. The beast he had crafted was nothing more than a donkey's head riding on top of Prussia's shoulder in place of his naturally occurring head, but the mere oddity of the sight was enough to spark fear within the preteen and send him scampering away in the direction of England's garden, petrified at the grotesque creature his magic had produced.

* * *

If you had came up to Prussia earlier that day and informed him that he would be cursed with an ass's head by some anonymous sorcerer, accidently send his fellow actors skittering away, frightened out of their skins (minus Russia, who seemed unstirred by Prussia drastic change in appearance), and end up hobbling into a garden which most likely belonged to Mr. Prissy Bushybrows, he would've laughed right in your face.

No, he would've collapsed to the ground under weak knees and literally do what most typing on the Internet do figuratively with the initials "rotfl".

In short, he wouldn't have taken the warning seriously. Not by a long shot, no matter how much money you could bribe him with to believe you.

After it _actually_ happened: Well, he probably would wave his hand dismissively at you, excusing his blatant stupidity with some tribute to his awesomeness and how that would enable him to deal with any problem life should dare shove in his face.

But, alas, no forewarning had occurred and the fact of Prussia's predicament remained immutable as of yet.

_This is such a pain in the ass_, he thought sourly, only registering his unintentional pun when he sat himself down on the ground. His eyes wandered to the broad leaves of the oak canopy, which were now adorned in a sickly gray color (apparently, donkeys are incapable of perceiving green).

In a rare moment, the Prussian was at lost with what to do. He obviously couldn't eradicate the problem without figuring out what occult force had been responsible for it. Thus, he had headed in the direction of England's place, figuring the country infamous for having discussions with invisible fairies would know the remedy to his issue. But even so, he was slightly averse to asking assistance from his fellow nation. He was the awesome Prussia, wasn't he? Something as simply trivial as a donkey's head should be a breeze for him to handle without some "gentleman" who talked to thin air giving him an unwanted hand. For all Prussia knew, England could've very well been the mastermind behind the troublesome transformation, in which case the likelihood of him lending a hand was remote.

_Damnit all, _he cursed, frustrated. In order to cool himself off, Prussia sung to himself "Mien Gott", a creation of his own.

* * *

England blinked the mist of sleep from his eyes, his brain feeling disoriented. His could hear the distant hum of a tune, but couldn't quite place where its origin lie. Finally, when his two emerald irises were viewing the world in clarity, he beheld a sight that nearly blew his cerebral clean out of the skull that encased it.

There, sitting placidly at the base of a neighboring tree, was the most gorgeous living creature England had ever laid his eyes upon. Its donkey-esque head had white fur that shone with an unearthly luster in the moonlight, as if each hair had been spun of silver. Its eyes were two chocolate truffles filled to bursting with incredible warmth. Its humanoid body had the smoothest, palest skin, each ridge and bump formed by its skeletal structure absolutely flawless. Its navy-blue uniform (which could only make its form more spectacular by the Englishman's standards) looked oddly familiar, but he shook the thought from his brain.

And the music falling from that lovely muzzle! England's heart soared with every note that he heard. His eyelids wilted under the weight of love and he crawled closer to the beautiful beast, wondering just how soft that silken hair would feel under his fingers.

The creature seemed to sense England, for it ceased its music, chocolate-tinted eyes widened in alarm.

The Brit could almost hear the sickening rip of his heart tearing at the mere sight of his love disgruntled. "Please, don't run, my dear. I would never harm you," he reassured, extended a hand to his newly-found center of the universe.

The donkey-man's shock turned swiftly to confusion. "E-England? What are you doing here?" the creature spoke. It took a multiple rapid blinks for England resurface from his brief spell of awe at that suave, sexy voice.

"Admiring you. I know this is bit…sudden, but I can't help but be dumbstruck at how utterly handsome you are." England replied dreamily.

The object of his desire seemed at the verge of bursting into a bout of laughter. "You sure you didn't drink too much, England? Because I'm sure as hell not pretty in any w-"

His sentence was cut short as a frying pan all but soared from an anonymous locale and struck the donkey-man upside the head. England gasped sharply as he observed his love crumple to the ground with horrified eyes.

Within microseconds, England had the kitchen utensil clutched in an iron grip, murderous eyes scanning the premise for the thing that had dared to harm his beloved.

"Reveal yourself!" he cried, voice dripping with infuriation. "You shall pay for doing such a violent act on my love!"

Suddenly, the Brit felt a small tug at the cuff of his pants, bringing him out of his rampage just long enough to notice the enormous weld on the side of his head and rush to the donkey's side, the frying pan plummeting to the lawn, completely forgotten.

As he set the injured head on his lap, England became slowly engrossed in running his digits through the velvet-like hairs. While he perpetuated his soothing rhythmic petting, he curtly ordered to the fairies clustered nearby. "Go fetch this poor donkey an ice pack." Arthur snapped, his gaze never breaking away from his beloved.

The fairies, sighting the ugly weld and detecting the sour tone in England's voice, fluttered away to retrieve the item.

* * *

France couldn't stop laughing.

His sides were aching tremendously, his lungs could barely perform the essential task of breathing correctly and yet he still continued his hysteric laughter.

"This is just…just…"he spoke hoarsely in between bouts of chuckles, "…perfect, Peter!" His gaze, peppered with tears of mirth, was still observing the sight of England cooing comforting words to a mutated Prussia. "And hitting him with that enchanted frying pan so that Prussia would think Arthur was Hungary was very clever."

Sealand could only beam in triumph at his impending success, taking France's perpetual giggles as a sign of approbation. He even found himself chuckling along with the European nation, finding France's laughter rather contagious.

But, sooner that Sealand would've wanted, the fifteenth century France gazed at Sealand expectantly. "Now, is there any way we can monitor our two Asian lovebirds? I want to make sure they are enjoying themselves, non?"

Sealand flinched, his stomach pulling complicated gymnastics within its confinements. _The moment France discovers I didn't make China fall for Japan, I can say good-bye to my nation status. _he thought in trepidation. Nevertheless, he flipped half-heartedly through his book of generic spells, praying the one France had requested wasn't present. To his chagrin, he found the incantation and muttered it dejectly. A sort of ephemeral window manifested in front of them, the image of China and Japan bickering displayed within the window's confines.

"Well, there's China, but why isn't he with the other Asian he was arguing with?" France inquired, blue eyes gazing at Sealand

_Other Asian? _Sealand grimaced as his active stomach preformed a perfect belly flop. Something wasn't matching up. "W-what do you mean?" he responded innocently enough, praying the worst news was still a far way off from now.

"The tall brunette nation with the curl coming out of his hair that I told you to make sure China fell for?"

A jolt of horror zapped through Sealand's nervous system. _Uh-oh._

* * *

A disapproving gaze swept over China's countenance as he heavily sighed. "Look, I understand you are worried about Greece, but why must you insist I did something to him, aru?" he inquired, arms crossed.

"You are trying to stop our relationship." Japan stated simply, though his eyes were ice cold. "It seems only natural to assume you did something to him."

"Japan…. Did you consider the possibility that he just went off?" China suggested lightly. He found Japan's behavior odd, since he wouldn't normally be so concerned for another human being unless he were sure their life was in peril. "You are probably panicking over nothing."

"I am not panicked. I am merely worried because of the factors in this situation," he replied. Japan's voice seemed strained, as if he was attempting to conceal emotions, but no quite succeeding.

"It's true that I don't support you two, but I haven't touched your boyfriend," he explained. China felt irritation surge in his bloodstream but chased it away. "So, stop trying to accuse me of something I've never done, aru,"

The younger male wasn't completely convinced, but China's words had merit to them. In fact, Japan had been questioning his urge to worry about his fiancé's mysterious departure….But the footprints, he thought. The hints and clues were not matching up.

Disheartened at the lack of new information, Japan delved father into the forest to continue his search, leaving China observing him with a tired gaze. So much had occurred in the last 24 hours and his energy source was depleting fast, as if some leech had been feasting upon his energy with great rapture. As the oriental male flopped onto the forest floor, he casted a feeble gaze at what inky sky he could perceive in the hole of the leaf canopy above. For a moment, China's fatigued eyes seeked vainly for some answer to his trouble masked in the velvet expanse overhead, but he soon gave up, letting sleep engulf him.

* * *

_**Footnotes:**_

_**Section 1**_**: Pretty much the same thing that happened in ****A Midsummer Night's Dream. ****I wasn't too sure why the parts changed in the original, but we cannot talk to Shakespeare.**

_**Section 2**_**: Stuff from Sealand's POV.**

_**Section 3**_**: Being turn into a donkey is one of the most notable things about Nick Bottom's character. On an unrelated note: I will be eternally happy if someone draws donkey!Prussia for me.**

_**Section 4:**_** The frying pan was completely my idea. Bottom's voice waking Titania up, however, was not.**

_**Section 5: **_**This is where Sealand comes to his senses and realizes what he did wrong.**

_**Section 6**_**: This is where the lovers start to get really wierded out because of Sealand's little error. Also, in the original, Hermia believed her lover had been murdered by Demetrius, but I doubt Japan would be that hysterical about Greece's odd disappearance and wouldn't accuse China of such things.**

_**Translations and References:**_

"_**Htiw eht rewop… fo eyi yeknod**_**." With the power of the Ancient Magic vested in me, may this man be given the head of a donkey.**

_**Apparently, donkeys are incapable of perceiving green:**_** They are technically colorblind, according to my research, but I can't be entirely sure this is true.**

**I apologize x10000000 that this is as late as it is, but I have a lot of writing to do and only so many hours in which to do it. In any case, I hope you all enjoy this chapter. Thanks so much for reading**

**~The Rational Dove**


End file.
